Crackfic: The Dragons of Oz
by Ddraigtanto
Summary: A costume party turns unusual when Selena Di Avalaria is dared into a drinking game by her older brother. A magical concoction puts Selena into a dream sleep, transported to the world of Oz, only everyone is a dragon. Selena finds herself forced into the role of Dorothy, complete with dress and ruby slippers... Magically stuck to her hind feet. ...She doesn't take it well.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Sorry about the issues with the initial upload. This was originally copied from my DeviantART account, I don't know why it went like it had done.**

**Art header was created by WingedWilly on DeviantART.**

**For the Di Avalaria siblings, Elwynn, and the twins Alexandria and Selena, costume parties had become something of a regular occurrence. Elwynn loved them, and Alexandria could certainly get into the spirit of them as well. The only stick in the mud was Selena, who would often be in a grump about something or another.**

However, one this occasion, the charismatic, hedonistic green prince had managed to convince both his sisters to accompany him at one of his costume parties in part of Avalaria palace. Their mother and father, Empress Ddraigtanto and Emperor Alexander Di Avalaria, were in London on poitical business, leaving the three younger dragons home alone, with Cynder being the only one of their step-siblings to accompany them. Eve lived in Warfang with Olivia as a guardians there for half the year, and at rooms in Avalaria for the other half; sadly for them, the party was taking place during the Warfang half of the year.  
Meanwhile Cynder did live at Avalaria, she often spent a lot of her spare time with Spyro. She was only a few dragonyears older than Elwynn, but spent most of her time courting Spyro.

Not that it'd have really helped Selena or Alexandria if she did join them. Elwynn was mischievous to say the least...

Selena was the first of the three siblings to be in her costume and downstairs among the party guests. She sat alone, next to the food table, holding a small cup filled generously with cheap, human beer; she was a grown dragoness, she had no qualms with a bit of light drinking, especially when she had other things she'd rather be doing: Oh Alexandria, how well she could twist her sister's wings on such matters.

She'd dressed as one of her heroes from history: Queen Danthe the Avenger. It was one of her favorite costumes for such an occasion. Originally she'd just thrown some plastic armour and a dark woolly blanket over herself, and called that a costume. However, on that such occasion, her mother's tailor had paid Avalaria a visit. Seeing the pitiful attempt at a costume, she insisted upon doing something better, practically dragging the young princess to her tailory home-from-home in one of the quiet corners of the palace compound. She worked through the night, and produced something considerably more spectacular: A much better representation of Danthe's armour, from the bracers, to the thick cloak of fur, to the blue sash bearing the Jarnhud sigil, topped off with an iron crown, a well-cut sapphire set into its face.

Selena looked around the party, seeing a few familiar faces: There was Sunny, who was dressed as a dragon knight: He was Volteer's adoptive son and apprentice, and Elwynn's best friend despite being roughly two dragonyears his elder.  
There was Andreas, who was dressed as a Roman magistrate (complete with toga), and Electra Di Isera, dressed as a priestess of Northern Relgimism: The twin lightening dragon children of Viscount Marcus Di Isera, Ddraigtanto's court archivist. There was Donna Blackgrove Ixeniejir, dressed as a princess, and Charlemange Kat'Harven, who was dressed as a plumber: The former of the two had come from Wales to be at Elwynn's party, and to spend more time with her blue-scaled lover.  
Angelica Sol, Captain Sol's niece, had been invited, and sat with a quiet pride in a beautiful white and gold dress, smiling as she flirted with a number of other dragons.  
Then, there was Jessie Li: Jessie was a very pretty Asian-blooded draconian of red scales, and a head of flowing blond hair; her mother was a European mandrake, her father an Asian draconian himself: The offspring of this loving but improverished couple was a beautiful, clever daughter with a flirtatious streak: She couldn't afford a costume of her own, so Elwynn had, with Alexandria's permission, loaned her an elegant purple dress and heels: They certainly beat the beaten up, worn old trainers she often wore; however, those shoes had made her feet quite sore, and so she'd sat at one of the tables in the hall, tossing the shoes aside and rubbing her soles.

At that moment, there came the cheerful laugh of Elwynn from the stairs as he and Alexandria joined the party. She turned to see who they'd dressed up as: The result left her quite surprised for a brief moment. Alexandria had dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, from the blue and white dress to a pair of red shoes and pulled up socks on her hind paws. That didn't surprise her however: What did surprise her was Elwynn, who was already very tipsy, and had poured himself into a green dress and a set of rather nice silver jewelery; somehow, he'd managed to pull off a convincing cross-dress; "Ellie's" appearance had taken Selena by surprise.

"Ah, there you are!" Alexandria smiled. "Do you like my costume. I'm Dorothy, I even got the ruby slippers." She smiled, giving her twin a quick cuddle. "TT did a really good job on this, don't you think?" It was true. The Tailor (or TT as the siblings often called her) has a specially great talent for dressmaking.  
"Why hello there, sister mine!" Elwynn smirked as he skipped. "Or should I say, Queen Danthe? It's become something of a regular thing now? You dressed up as Dany last time."  
"Oh, pack it in Elwynn." Selena snorted. "I like Danthe Jarnhud. She was never going to inherit anything, and then she became queen of the entire Jarnhud Kingdom. Purely because she was clever, she was strong, she was lucky, and because her eldest sibling was _a total ass_."  
"Selena!" Alexandria winced. "Don't be so mean!"  
Selena rolled her eyes. "...And, like Danthe, I have a sibling who is infinitely sweeter than I am." She sighed. "...What are you dressed as anyway, _Ellie_?"  
"Ah, yes..." Elwynn spoke, putting on a fake girly tone to his voice (he was surprisingly good at it). "This is, like, our first costume party since Alex became _Alex_, so to speak. And Long'Liang was called back to Indomalya by his father, leaving Alex all alone."  
"Oh." Selena gasped. "Oh Alex, I'd totally forgotten. I'm so sorry." Alex smiled with a slight nod at this: Selena may have been a renowned grump, but she loved her twin dearly, and she knew how much Alexandria was smitten with the Asian prince. She hated to see her unhappy for any reason.  
"...So..." Elwynn cooed happily, a cheeky grin upon his face "...I decided to take the plunge and give this whole cross-dressing thing a go! I'm drunk, who cares? I love my little sis', and I want her to be comfortable. 'Course, she then dared me to get to get anything from 3rd base to a home run dressed like this. If I can't, I have to wear this rather fetching piece of attire for the rest of the month. If I win however..." He smirked. "Well, it doesn't really matter, I get plenty just for playing."  
"Oh brother..." Selena groaned. "I swear to the ancestors, you're a bad influence on everybody around you."  
"What?" Elwynn smirked. "I don't mind, it was Alex's idea. And if I'm game for it, then what's the problem?"  
"Elwynn! You're the heir to Avalar! Mum's firstborn! You're an idiot, and yet you're going to be emperor one day. I try to conduct myself with some sensibility, representing the House Di Avalaria as best I can, and I have nothing to show for it. You'd rather just sleep with everyone you come into contact with."  
"And yet, here I am, talking with my sisters, rather than with Jessie over there." Elwynn scoffed. "Besides, lighten up Selena, it's a party! We're supposed to be having fun!" A devilish grin crossed his face. "And I have just the thing for it." He turned tail, and headed over to a bar which had been set up from a few tables and kegs of drink hooked up to rubber pipes and taps. "Come on!" He beckoned his siblings after him...

**The barkeep they'd hired, Algiz, was not unfamiliar to Avalaria parties. Stories had been told of Ddraig, years ago, drinking one of the concoctions that strange dragon had made, and having quite the adventures in her dreams. It was a frightening experience at first, as nobody quite understood what was going on; indeed, Algiz himself worried that he may have caused the Empress some harm. However, today, Elwynn was well aware of his special drinks, and wanted in on the adventure himself. What's more, he wanted to drag his siblings into it, so he could hear if anything fun happened with them.**

...It was completely safe: Algiz had more than a hundred human years to work on the recipe of the drink, and had been able to do more tests of it to guarantee that it caused no harm to its patrons. Now, it was a deliberate party thing: The original drink had Ddraig out for hours, this one would only have them out for minutes, but in the dream, it would feel like longer. Or so Algiz claimed...

"Come on, Selena!" Elwynn whined. "Don't be such a spoilsport!"  
"No. I don't like the look of those drinks." Selena grumbled. "I don't like the idea of drinking something that deliberately knocks me out cold at a party."  
"Yeah, we're at a party, _my _party, in _The Palace of Avalaria_." Elwynn rationalised. "How much danger do you really think you're going to be in?"  
Selena paused. It was a good point, while there were a few people here that Selena didn't know, she was aware that the majority of them were temple students: To her, that meant that the shadiest person in the party was actually Elwynn himself, and he'd be out for the count too! She'd pay to see him stagger about like an idiot before falling over and drooling all over the floor, all while in his silly dress! ...Perhaps she could even be in something pretty cool, like an astronaut or a warrior queen like Danthe.  
"Alright alright." She spoke at last. "I'll do your drinking game."  
"Yay!" Elwynn playfully cheered, high-pawing Alexandria, before running off to fetch some of his friends: He wanted them to watch, and when he woke up, he wanted to tell them everything while the memories were still fresh. By this point, Andreas, who was one of the few people Selena was frequently friendly with (for he shared her sensibility), spoke with her.  
"Selena, are you really sure about this?" The yellow dragon asked.  
"Honestly, I have no idea." Came the princess' reply. "Would you keep an eye on my body while I'm out cold? If something happens, get me out of here, perhaps to my bedroom. I don't know, I just don't want to shit myself or something in front of everyone during this thing if the worst comes to the worst."  
"Of course, Selena." He smiled. "Me and Electra will make sure you're okay. Scout's honour."  
As Andreas finished speaking, Selena saw over her friend's shoulder Elwynn, speaking with Jessie, who hugged his neck and whispered into his ear. She could overhear Elwynn speaking though, as well as the replies his fling didn't whisper.  
"...Don't fret, my lovely. I'll be dreaming of you if I can." At this, the draconian giggled.  
"Oh, I wouldn't do that. You'll surely make a mess."  
That line actually managed to make Selena crack a smile: Perhaps she wouldn't be the first to make a fool of herself here? That being said, Elwynn didn't seem to have any sense of shame: He'd revel in this regardless.

Selena gulped slightly from nerves as she lay back on a lounge sofa which Andreas and Electra had brought into the hall for her: It was probably wise for Selena to already be lying down if she was going to go through with this; she'd already removed the heavier parts of the armour for comfort's sake, leaving only the cloak. It was the kind of wisdom, the likes of which neither Elwynn nor Alexandia seemed to possess, which gave her a smug sense of victory over her two siblings in this instance.  
She watched as Algiz carefully measured out the strange reagents and ingredients which he added to his mixture, like a witch or wizard brewing a potion from a cauldron. It made Selena nervous. She was in a minority among her family, for she had something of a fear of magic: She was a practically minded person, and didn't like that magic put some things beyond her control, including sometimes even things which might pertain to her own form... And yet, here she was.  
Three glasses of the glowing, rainbow coloured fluid were poured out. They were placed upon a tray, and the barkeep went over to each dragon, offering them a glass. Selena could see Jessie and Sunny, who had gone to cheer Elwynn on, as well as Donna and Charlie, who had effectively gone to 'Team Alexandria' and were happily giving her morale support as Alex seemed as nervous as Selena, if not more so.  
"Don't worry Alex." Selena spoke. "We're surrounded by friends, we're at home, nothing bad is going to happen. Let's just indulge our brother in his stupid antics this time, we'll get revenge later." An evil smirk crawled onto her face as she said that, which Alexandria found quite amusing.  
"Sure thing sis', thank you." She smiled. With that, there was no more procrastination: Elwynn hadn't waited on his sisters, and the whooping of his friends suggested he'd already downed his drink: The snoring confirmed it. Selena opened her mouth, pouring the strange drink down the hatch. She paused as she swallowed it, shrugging in slight approval.  
"Hm." she muttered. "It's not so bad... It kinda tastes bananaaaaaa..." And then, as if a switch had been turned off in her head, she quickly slurred and flopped over the padded seat, sent off into a deep sleep...

**For a brief moment, Selena had forgotten that she had been thrust into a dream sleep. Therefore she was quite surprised when she woke up, and she wasn't in Avalaria...**

...Where Selena actually woke up happened to be a small wooden cabin, the likes of which certainly looked far worse for wear. Sunlight flooded through its shattered windows and broken rooftop: It was a warm day outside.  
Selena's head hurt as she pulled herself out of bed. The sunlight left her dazed, not really able to pay attention to details as she staggered out of the small house; her costume felt lighter, though she remembered she'd done away with her armour, and she still had trouble seeing, for her eyes had not adjusted to the light.

Slowly, she blinked, and sight slowly returned to her; however, she rather wished it hadn't.  
"I don't think I'm in Avalar anymore..." She muttered to herself, looking around at what could only be described as a fairy tale village, complete with little round cottages with mushroom cap shaped roofs. She'd wandered into a small plaza made of red and yellow bricks, paved into a swirl. There were flowers gardens and lush trees all around. This did not seem like an Avalarian settlement in the slightest, and her newfound predicament left Selena very confused.

This confusion was only going to get worse however. As she stood, looking around, she suddenly noticed a large bubble floating towards her, slowly growing and changing colour, becoming slowly clearer as it floated to the ground. As it grew to the size of a dragon, Selena's look of confusion contorted into further bewilderment as the bubble landed. It popped, and from which emerged a green dragoness, garbed in a large, pink dress. Selena blinked. Slowly, she was beginning to develop a hunch as to where she might be.  
"Alexandria?" She spoke as the dragon approached, smiling.  
"Is that your name, dear?" The dress-wearing dragoness who looked suspiciously like her sister asked.  
"What?" Selena scoffed. "No! I'm Selena! Alexandria's _your _name. Where are we?"  
The dragoness who apparently wasn't Alexandria giggled. "Oh, my dear sweet Selena, such a pretty name! My name is Glinda, and I am a witch, the Good Witch of The North."  
At that moment, everything suddenly fell into place for Selena. "Oh, oh no..." She groaned. "I know that name. Damn my blasted sister for putting the bloody Wizard of Oz in my head!"  
"Oh? So you know about this place already?" Glinda asked. "And you have come to vanquish the Wicked Witch of the East, who has been a tyrant over these lands for so long."  
Selena froze. Did she just kill someone?! She spun around to the cabin from which she'd emerged. Sure enough, there, sticking out from under the foundations of the house was a pair of hind paws, wearing a pair of sparkling ruby shoes, attached to a pair of skinny, black-scaled hind legs, clad in stripy stockings.  
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Selena groaned. "I didn't mean to do that!" She protested. "It... It's..." She groaned. "It's a long story."  
"It matters not." Not-Alexandria said with a smile. "You are a hero. The people of Munchkinland owe you a great debt."  
"Oh, brother..." Selena winced. "Just, please, for the love of the ancestors, don't sing. _Nobody sing anything!_ I hate impromptu singing."

**Almost in answer to her complaints, there was a sudden explosion of fire and red smoke, and the enraged scream of another dragoness from the centre of the plaza.**

"You! You murderer!" A larger dragoness of green scales, whose face was obscured by her rather large, pointed hat, cried, marching over, a broom in her left forepaw (despite clearly being a dragon with functioning wings) and a scowl from her visible mouth. "You killed my sister!"  
"Oh shut up!" Selena barked. "It was an accident! How else do you suppose I could've crushed her with a HOUSE!?" She paused. "Do you think I picked it up and hit her with it?!"  
"You hit my sister with a house?!"  
"I didn't! It fell on her! I don't know how to explain how a house could drop from the fucking sky! But it happened! It had nothing to do with me, it's not even my house!"  
"Oh really?" the witch scowled, her concentration still centered upon Selena. "Well, my pretty, I can cause accidents too you know!"  
Alexandria/Glinda smirked. "Not without the ruby slippers. I'm afraid you're too late for that as well. Selena has them now. And on Selena is where they shall stay."

Selena blinked, having a bad feeling about Alexandria/Glinda's line. For the first time since she landed, she actually took the time to look at her outfit, and immediately crumpled her face in disgust. Her Danthe cloak and costume were gone, instead she was fully clad in the white and blue patterned dress of Dorothy Gale, adapted for wear by dragons.  
On her horns she found a pair of blue bow ribbons, which she instantly hated; and, to her disgust, her hind legs were clad in clean white socks with frilly ends; completed with the ruby slippers formerly worn by the dead witch of the east, now appeared on her feet, an act of magic transporting them on without her so much as having to move her feet to slip them on. Dumbfounded, the dragoness wriggled the toes of her hind paws, feeling them press against her socks, and the inside of the shoes. Selena scowled: Alexandria or Jessie would kill to wear such a pretty outfit, not Selena though, she hated it.  
"Oh, for the ancestors' sake!" She cursed. "What is this?!"  
"Those are MY slippers!" The witch screamed. "You don't know how to use them! Give them to me!"  
"Stay tight inside those slippers." Alexandria/Glinda spoke to the shoe-clad dragoness. "Their magic is very powerful. It is why she wants them so badly."  
"Do you think I'm stupid!?" Selena hissed. "I'm well aware of what these shoes are! It doesn't make me want to be here any more than I had before! I don't like stupid dresses, and I'm not going to wear a dead dragon's shoes!"

Then, Selena lost it. Roaring aloud, she proceeded to angrily outstretch her wings with such speed and force that she tore the back of her dress to shreds! Her forepaw claws finished the job, ripping the dress loose so it barely hung from the dragon's front.  
"As for you, you can have your stupid shoes! I know none of this is real!" The dragon princess sat on her haunches to take off the shoes. She shook and kicked her hind paws violently, but the shoes held firm.  
"Grrr!" She scowled, throwing herself onto her back. "Come off!"  
In one forepaw, Selena gabbed one of her hind paw, still stuck in the soft fabric of her socks. With the other hand she grabbed the ruby slipper, attempting to pull her feet out of the shoes, but still they would not come off! She continued to tug, pull and twist with every ounce of strength she could muster. Veins popped on her forelegs and sweat beaded from her forehead and her face, which blushed a bright shade of pink, as she tried to somehow pull the ruby slippers free from her feet, but the shoes remained affixed in place! It was no good: The shoes were magical, and that kept the shoes magically stuck on her feet, they were on her feet, and they would not budge from her feet no matter what Selena tried!  
"I, I can't get them off." She spoke at last as she finally gave up, exhausted, her hind paws flopped back on the ground, the heels of her shoes making a slight click as they hit the brick pavement.  
"There, do you see?" Alexandria/Glinda spoke with a quiet disdain to the wicked witch, after they'd gotten their heads around Selena's outburst (even the wicked witch had watched the struggle with a look of slight bafflement on her face). "Even if dear Selena wanted to give you the slippers, she cannot. And you cannot take them, you have no power here. Be gone."  
"Very well, I'll bide my time." The witch hissed to Selena, who continued to lie on her back in a torn dress, magic shoes and socks (the one part of her clothes which she hadn't torn to pieces), too exhausted and humiliated to care for the witch's threats. "...And as for you, my fine lady. It's true I can't attend to you here and now as I'd like, but just try to stay out of my way! Just try! I'll get you yet, my pretty, and your little wyvern, too!" With that, she cackled loudly and with malevolent intent, before taking to the sky, and flying away into the clouds.

"Wyvern?" Selena muttered aloud, confused. In answer, she heard a tiny peep, and a small limb gently tapping her limp foreleg. Turning her head, Selena saw a tiny, black wyvern, no bigger than a puppy, sitting next to her, making tiny little squeaks at the green dragoness: It seemed friendly, and looked as though it had taken quite a liking to her.  
"Hey." She snorted. "Shoo. Go on. Get out of here!" The little Wyvern shrunk back slightly, and Selena immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry little guy, you're probably the Toto of this story. But I'm not your owner, I've never had a pet wyvern before."  
The wyvern looked at her confused, before squeaking loudly, and flapping its wings and flying inside the old cabin. A few moments later, it returned, carrying (with great difficulty) a basket in its talons, which it dropped next to Selena. It chirped once again as it forced the basket open with its snout, searching inside before it putted out a small strap of leather, with metal buckles and a small, silver disk on it: A collar. It dropped it at Selena's forepaw, chirping at her again.

"It seems that little fellow has taken a liking to you." Alexandria/Glinda smiled. "I'm sure it'll make a fine companion for your journey. If you wish to return to the place where you live, you'll have to see the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz."  
"Ah! Ah-ha!" Selena suddenly laughed, scurrying to her feet. "But wait! I have the ruby slippers! I can just click my heels and return home, can't I?!"  
The good witch frowned. "Well, yes, I suppose you could do that. But my dear girl, you've only just got here. You could simply return home, but you've vanquished a wicked witch, and the Wizard would be very keen to hear you regale your tale. And think of all the people who will need your help."

**Selena frowned: Damn that insufferable fairy-dragon! Whether she liked it or not, she HAD to be Dorothy in this story. She'd heard her mother's story of her dreams through the same potion; every time she just tried to sleep her way out of the dream, she simply ended up in another world. That wouldn't do, she'd still be stuck in the ruby slippers, she'd still be stuck in a dream. No. The only way to do this was to finish the story as quickly as possible.**

Selena walked as quickly as she was able down the yellow brick road. She'd done away with the tattered remains of her dress, but was forced to walk in the shoes and socks. This was tricky: Selena wasn't used to walking in shoes, let alone _magic _shoes, with _heels_. It was one of many things she had to get used to. The little wyven sat on Selena's back (he didn't weigh very much), happily puffing out its chest to show off its collar. The wyvern was apparently female, and indeed responded best to the name Toto. Oddly though, Selena didn't really think Toto suited the little wyvern. She couldn't quite put her talon on it. Still, she was a very gentle wyvern, and, after helping her get rid of the silly bows on her horns, was quite content to nap on her master's back.

As they continued to follow the road, they came across large fields of tall corn. Selena looked about, seeing a dragon scarecrow, fixed onto a post, as if crucified. Selena stopped, turning to the scarecrow. She knew it was more than a stuff effigy of a dragon. For one, she knew the story well. For another point of interest, that dragon-scarecrow looked familiar.  
"Oh Andreas..." She sighed. "Why did they have to drag you into this..." She approached the scarecrow, tapping it sharply and it jumped in place, startled.  
"Oh my!" He cried aloud. "Oh! Please, help me down. Oh, my limbs hurt."  
Wordlessly, Selena slashed the ropes which held him to the post, watching him drop to the floor. Offering him a paw, Selena helped up the strange scarecrow-dragon who looked like her electric dragon friend.  
"Oh, thank you." He smiled, shaking himself down. "Who are you?"  
"My name's Selena." Selena told him. "I'm sure your name's not Andreas, is it?"  
"'Fraid not, mi'lady." He responded, tipping his hat to her. "I'm simply a scarecrow. I'm made of straw, and there's not a brain in my head. Oh, I would so much love a brain."  
Selena nodded. "I suppose you'll be wanting to come with me to the Emerald City then?" She asked. "I have to go see the Wizard. I was told I ought to pay him a visit. He'll be able to get these slippers off my feet, or get me home, preferably both."  
"The wizard?!" The scarecrow cried. "Oh, I'd love to! I'm sure he'd be able to give me a brain!"  
"Right. Go. Lets not waste any time then." Selena responded. "Don't dawdle, and don't sing. I'm a fire dragon after all. The faster I get to Oz, the faster I can get rid of these shoes and go home."

**Selena felt she had perhaps not got on the right foot with the scarecrow. He looked like he _wanted _to sing, but the threat of setting him on fire for trying clearly hadn't gone down well. But it didn't matter, it was just a dream, right? She'd get the ruby slippers off, she'd get to go home, and this dream would finally be over.**

Things are never quite that simple.

The yellow brick road took them deep into a forest, laiden with apple trees. This presented Selena, who was growing pretty hungry, with a choice: Deal with some bitchy trees, or seek food once she got to the Emerald City...

"Gee. You sure managed to get a lot of apples there, didn't you?" The scarecrow grumbled, carrying in the basket in his forepaw.  
"I did indeed. I've never tasted a sweeter apple." The green dragoness nodded, taking a bit out of one and savoring the juiciness of it. "This little Toto wyvern seems to like them too." As she spoke the little creature swooped down and grabbed one in its talons, before landing on Selena's back to nibble at it hungrily.  
"Did you have to set one of those tree on fire to get them though?" Scarecrow asked.  
"Sure, they were throwing apples at me at and Toto. It hurt my wyvern! I had to teach them a lesson. I'm not a nature dragon, I won't be talked back to by a tree. I'm a fire dragon, I had a very practical solution to my problems."  
Scarecrow shuddered. "I can still hear its screaming."  
"Would you like an apple to take your mind off it?"  
"No." He responded. "I don't have a stomach. Maybe you should ask the wizard for a heart before you head home?"  
"Oh." Selena spoke, her mouth full as she briefly forgot her manners, then promptly swallowed the chewed apple in her mouth. "That reminds me of something..."

Selena deviated from the path for a moment. The grass beneath her forepaws was soft and cool compared to the hard, sun-baked bricks, which had become hot from their exposure to the sunlight. Eventually, she saw what she was expecting to see: A dragon, made of metal, stood frozen in place from rusted hinges. What started Selena however, was who the tin dragon looked like: It looked like Alexander Greywater, her father, made metal.  
"Oh..." She shuddered. She loved her father, but the tin dragon before her looked so cold, so intimidating, she couldn't help but stare, and feel smaller in its presence... Suddenly, the tin dragon spoke, or tried to speak, causing Selena to jump out of her skin.  
"Mmmm! HmmmmMmmm!" It creaked, barely able to move its jaw. It _was _able to move its head though, turning to look intently at a can of oil. Selena had no snide remarks nor cynical, short-tempered quarrel with this encounter. She silently grabbed the can and oiled the dragon's limbs until he was limber and mobile again.  
"Oh, by the ancestors." He groaned. "What torture. Nobody should have to suffer this..." He frowned. "Still, young girl, I must thank you for freeing me. I..." He paused. "...It's been so long, I can't even remember my name, I remember only that I was once one of the greatest woodcutters in all of Oz, and now... Now I am nothing more than a metal dragon, completely empty inside. There's no heart in this chest of mine." He stopped, steeling himself before returning to the others. "Who are you?" He asked, his voice cold, stiff and formal. "Come now child, speak. Or is your jaw rusted stiff as well?"  
"Oh..." Selena shrunk back. "I'm, I'm Selena. And this is the scarecrow."  
"A shabby pile of hay and rags?" The tin dragon commented. "And a lost girl..." He paused. "Who stole the famed ruby slippers from the Wicked Witch of the East no less? How on earth could such a small little thing like you pull off that?"  
"I didn't steal them!" Selena protested, her voice in something of a squeak, she couldn't help it: She'd never seen Greywater as stern and hard as this, it was frightful. "She, she died. A house fell on her... Than Glinda the good witch magicked them onto my feet, and now they won't come off! It's not my fault!"  
"Oh, hush." He spat. "I do not mean to be cruel. It is good she is dead, and the wicked witches do not possess those shoes. Being heartless has its toll, girl. I wish I could show compassion, or be warm to people. But this is metal, it is my mask, my armour. I've worn it so long I am dead inside, and forcing my limbs stiff. It's my curse to bare." He stepped off the grass, onto the yellow brick road. "I shall seek audience with the Wizard of Oz, offer my services in exchange for his mercy. Ancestors willing, he shall grant me a heart, so I might feel once more."  
"Oh!" The scarecrow perked up. "We're heading there too! We can go together!"  
Selena was quiet, her cheeks had gone an even brighter shade of pink. She cursed under her breath: Even in that stupid dress, and even in these silly slippers and frilly socks, she had not blushed so much; she had not felt so small and so silly. She could only nod at the tin dragon's statement.  
"Very well." He went over to a tree one last time, pulling from its side a large axe. "But no singing! I cannot abide random singing. I shall have your tongue if you force me to suffer spontaneous songs!"

**Selena sighed as she and her two traveling companions made their way down the road: This was _not _the Wizard of Oz story _she _was used to!**

Convention dictated that the next character Selena would meet on her travels would be a cowardly lion. As Selena and her group entered a darker, thicker section of the woods, she started looking around for such a beast. Things were certainly not as she was expecting so far however, anything could happen. Lions, tigers, bears. It didn't really matter, she could _easily _tear any of them apart!  
"It's growing awfully dark, isn't it?" The scarecrow spoke.  
"Yes. I wouldn't worry though. I can breathe fire, and the Tin Dragon has an axe." She looked over her shoulder at the wyvern, who had shrunk back slightly: It was only a baby, perhaps it was afraid of the dark?  
She'd slowed her walking pace slightly. Her hind paws ached from the ruby slippers. Perhaps if she'd worn shoes all of her life, she'd have no problems with it. But her feet was not used to being slightly elevated by the heels. She was still embarrassed to be stuck in them: They raised her hind legs up higher than they might normally be, which in turn had made her... Ahem, her rear a little higher in turn, not by much, but _she'd _started to notice it it, and she didn't like it.

At that moment, the group heard a growl and a roar. Curious, the Toto wyvern perked its head up, and glided off to investigate.  
"Toto, no!" Selena hissed, giving chase after the black winged lizard. It was a quick little creature however, and it landed near the bushes, sniffing the air. Suddenly, there was another roar as a creature burst from the bush, swiping at the wyvern, hitting her across the face. It yelped in pain and fright and flew away behind Selena, who snarled in anger.  
"Grrr." The creature, who appeared to be a yellow-coated dragon, dressed in the fur of a lion, but looked and sounded as Sunny, Elwynn's friend, might speak. "You foolish philistines! You dare come in my forest. I'll get you! Grrr, put 'em up! C'mon, put 'em up!"  
Selena had no time for this. She snarled, displaying her long, sharp teeth, before rearing up on her hind legs, then smashing a clenched paw into the lion's head, sending him reeling. "Ow!" He cried, rubbing his head tearfully. "You didn't have to hit me so hard!"  
"What do you expect?" Selena spat. "You spineless bastard, hurting a tiny little wyvern? What the hell's wrong with you?! What kind of coward attacks something so small and helpless compared to you?!"  
"It's true!" The lion that looked like Sunny sobbed. "I'm a coward. A big, dumb coward. I'm even afraid of a little wyvern, and their fire."  
"But Toto is only a baby." Selena scolded. "She's never even breathed fire the entire time I've known her."  
"Oh, I'm sorry." The lion whimpered. "I wasn't going to do nothin'. Oh, I wish I was courageous like you, standing up to a big lion like me."  
"I don't think you've noticed, but I'm a _dragon_. The last time I checked, I was higher up the food chain." She snorted. "Well, perhaps you should come with us? We're all trying to get something different from the Wizard of Oz, if he can do all the so-called wonderful things he does, like handing out brains and hearts, he should be able to give you a spine."  
"Yes, the wizard could do that. You should come along with us." The scarecrow added. The tin dragon simply nodded in agreement.  
"R-really? You'd let me come along?"  
Selena nodded. "Well, I do need to make up the numbers."  
"The what?" Scarecrow asked.  
"Nothing, nothing." She hastily responded. "Let's just go. It's far too dark in this forest."

**And so, the group was completed: 'Dorothy', the scarecrow, the tin... Dragon, and the cowardly lion... who looked suspiciously like a dragon her brother was friends with. It was a strange collection of people to be walking down that yellow brick road, and yet, it was something everyone had come to expect...**

They were close now. The glistening green spires of the Emerald City were in sight, but what was also in sight was a vast field of poppies, a great sea of red before them. Selena grumbled, she knew only too well what that red sea had in store for her.  
"Look, there in the distance!" The scarecrow cried. "Isn't it a marvellous city?!" He spoke eagerly.  
"It's a sight to behold." The tin dragon also spoke, his tone failing hide to hide how impressed he was at the sight. "Whatever are we waiting for..." He continued to frown. "Selena? You look troubled."  
"Well, I would be excited about being so close, yeah." Selena explained: "But, I do know that those poppies... The wicked witch has set a trap with them."  
"A Trap?" The tin dragon sorted. "However would she hide a trap within flowers?"  
"No, you misunderstand." Selena grumbled. "The flowers ARE the trap. They don't affect you though. You and the scarecrow don't have _lungs. _Me, Toto-Wyvern and the lion do."  
"Oh no." The lion cowered. "What do we do?"  
"Again. I am a fire dragon." Selena smirked. She turned to the poppies, opening her mouth, she let force a vast jet of flames. She took to the sky, coating the field in fire. The smoke was thick and foul smelling. She returned to her travel companions, a victorious smile on her face. "Shall we?" She asked.  
"You, you set them all on fire." the scarecrow stammered. "I can't go through that. I'll burn!"  
The smug look on Selena's face vanished: She hadn't considered that. Looking back, she may have been overzealous with her fire, which was continuing to spread through the field. She groaned: She'd screwed up, and now she needed an alternative option.  
"Scarecrow..." Selena finally asked, having an idea. "Are you just straw inside you?"  
"Yes of course." He answered. "...Why?"  
"So... You're quite light then?"  
"I would say so indeed... Why are you staring at me like that?"  
"I'm going to fly you over the fire." Selena answered: "I'll have to take two trips. One for you, one for the lion."  
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" The tin dragon asked.  
"Oh..." She frowned. "I, I don't know if I'm strong enough to pick up an adult dragon made entirely of metal." She winced, she didn't like saying that to a dragon who looked so much like her father. "But you're made of metal. So you're fireproof! Right?"  
He snorted. "Right."  
"Look, I'll give it a try, alright, but first I'm going to carry the scarecrow, as he's the lightest."  
"Right."  
"Woah woah, wait." The scarecrow protested as Selena took to the air, but her wings were loud, she did not hear. She grabbed the scarecrow's back with her talons and ascended high into the air, the dragon of patchwork cloth and stuffed hay protested and cried out as the green dragoness ferried him across the growing flames. She dumped him on the yellow brick road on the other end of the field, it would form a very nice fireblock to prevent the rest of the area going up in smoke... Probably. Quickly, she made her way back for the others.  
The lion was trickier, she had to be more careful, as he was made of flesh and blood; he was heavier, and he wouldn't sit still on her back, crying and panicking as Selena flew: More than once, the cowardly lion nearly threw her off balance, much to her annoyance.  
The most difficult of all however was the tin dragon. He was so heavy, and she simply couldn't get a good grip on him with her claws. She was forced to have him on her back, and that seriously impacted her height.

**The wicked witch's magic poppy trap had not been handled with what Selena's mother would've called _tact and delicacy_, and the others all looked rather cross about the whole affair. Worse still, the fires continued to burn and now turned in the direction of the forest! Selena blushed with embarrassment, a nervous look on her face: The sooner she got out of this story, the better. People would NOT be happy about this.**

The only person who seemed to be in good spirits after the whole poppy fire affair was Toto, who seemed to be instilled with a new hyperactive sense of euphoric excitement from the heat.  
As they walked down the straight road towards the Emerald City, the mood was far worse than Selena expected for the wizard of Oz. The smoke had billowed up into the air, turning the blue sky a dark gray; the air was hot and dry, and Selena couldn't shake the feeling that she'd done something wrong...

She didn't have the time to dwell on it however: They were there, the Emerald City.  
"Oh, it's so tall." The scarecrow took a few steps back to try to see the top of the spires, though they were obscured by the gray clouds of smoke. "Let's get inside."  
Selena nodded. "I'll knock." She turned to the door, striking it with her clenched paw. A slider opened suddenly on the door, and she saw a red dragon, covered in green makeup, and clad in a green uniform: It looked like Nexus, one of the guardians from the dragon temple, except in the sense that it probably wasn't really him.  
"You!" He cried. "Who are you!? Why do you seek to enter the Emerald City?!"  
Selena stood up tall, sharpening her posture and speaking with as stately a voice as she could muster. "I'll have you know that I am Princess Selena Di Avalaria, fourth daughter of Empress Ddraigtanto Di Avalaria of the Avalarian Empire! I am the slayer of the Wicked Witch of the East, and the magically forced wearer of the Ruby Slippers! I demand you let me and my followers inside and let me see the Wizard of Oz this moment!"  
She turned sideways, keeping her eyes on the guard, kicking up one of her hind legs to better show off the magic shoes upon her feet.  
"My word!" Not-Nexus cried out. "The Ruby Slippers! Now there's a wyvern of a different colour." The Toto wyvern made a little squeak of excitement as the mention of wyverns was made. However, the guard paused, seeing the growing devastation behind them. "There's a fire outside!" He pulled open the doors. "Quickly my dear, come inside! You and your friends! Hurry!"  
Selena took a moment to turn around, the fires were _still _burning: What a nightmare! She quickly hurried inside with the others, the doors shutting behind them: It wasn't ideal, but they were here at last.

**Quickly, their presence drew the attention of quite a large crowd. Men, women and children from all over gathered to see the dragoness who had apparently slain the wicked witch. News of the raging fire outside the city had reached the people of the Emerald City, and Selena **_did _**so proudly declare herself a fire dragon to all who would listen. She could tell the mood of the crowd: It was mixed, confused, a little frightened, and yet there was still some elements of excitement to meet the witch-slayer.**

They'd been travelling for hours, and were pretty worn out. That didn't stop Selena however, she had to be made presentable before the wizard; she knew the truth about just who the wizard was, but perhaps she could convince him to help _without _ousting him. She was a princess after all! She could sport some regalia quite nicely after all, or perhaps even some armour!  
So, there were makeovers all around. Selena had accidentally torn the back of Scarecrow's clothes when picking him up with her claws, and all of them (save for the tin dragon, who simply got a polish and more effective lubrication of his limbs)enjoyed a clean up, and some slightly less ragged and frayed clothes for the scarecrow.  
As for Selena, she had some rather interesting desires from the tailors and jewel-smiths of the Emerald City: She wanted a crown; she wanted a thick, velvet cloak, and she wanted a bejeweled necklace and golden bracelets, like her mother's, and explained her desires to the jewellers and the tailor (the latter-most, an emerald scaled dragoness, seemed far more excited at the prospect for making clothes for a supposed princess than the others).

It took a while for everything she asked for to be ready, but she was far happier to be dressed like this than she was in that bloody blue Dorothy dress, proudly strutting about in her new cloak and jewellery. She _looked _regal, and this made her feel very pleased with herself indeed: She might not be a ruler of anywhere, nor was to heir to any titles, but she looked the part, and _the wizard _didn't know she hadn't any power of the sort!  
She gathered with her travelling companions at the grand doors to the Emerald City Palace, waiting for the doormen to let them in. Unusually for this story, once the doors opened, the doorman made no attempt to stall them: He actually looked more afraid of Selena than he did the wizard. For Selena, this was good news.

The group walked down a long, Gothic green corridor to the throne room, lit by vast, fiery torches and a faint green light of sunlight through stained glass.  
From a vast throne at the end of the chamber, behind a thick veil of smoke, there was a face, a vast face staring down angrily upon them; for a brief moment, that face briefly made Selena forget she was in a story, and that she knew the reality of the situation: The wizard was, or at least appeared to be, Malefor.  
"BEHOLD!" The face boomed. "BEHOLD! BEFORE YOU IS THE GREAT AND POWERFUL WIZARD OF OZ! SPEAK! WHO ARE YOU!?"  
It took Selena a few seconds to get her head together as she remembered what was going on. She looked around, ignoring the big face baring down on her. Sure enough, there was a curtain...  
"I am Princess Selena Di Avalaria." Selena spoke in response, perhaps hoping she wouldn't need to oust the wizard just yet. "My mother is Empress Ddraigtanto Di Avalaria, empress of lands afar." She faltered. "We have come asking for your help..."  
"HELP?!" The wizard roared. "WHAT HELP WOULD YOU NEED FROM ME?!"  
"Well, I need to return home, but I need to get these ruby slippers off, because they're stuck to my feet."  
"I would so very much like a brain." The scarecrow added.  
"I was flesh and blood once." The tin dragon explained, still in his stiff, formal tone. "My liege, I would be indebted to you if you would give me a heart. I wish to feel again, as I once did."  
"I w-would like to be brave, sir." The lion peeped. "Please could you make me courageous? Like a lion should be."  
The wizard, it seemed, did not look impressed.  
"AND WHY, PREY TELL, SHOULD I GRANT YOU THESE THINGS? TO WHAT END WOULD I BENEFIT?! YOU HAVE BURNED MY LAND, AND HAVE DONE NOTHING TO MAKE UP FOR YOUR CRIMES!"  
Selena snorted angrily, looks like Plan A wasn't going to work. Taking a final look at the big face, Selena marched past it, and approaching the curtains.  
"Well, I really didn't want to do this, dick, but you've forced my paw..."  
"Selena, what are you doing?!" The others called to her, but she didn't listen.  
"WAIT!" The Wizard shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP!"  
But it was too late for that. With a furious growl, she ripped the curtain aside, revealing the 'real' wizard of Oz: Elwynn. Or, a dragon which at least looked like her brother, and that was enough to send her off into a rage of sibling rivalry.  
"You!" She snarled.  
"Oh my!" The wizard yelped, stammering.  
"You're the wizard! The REAL wizard, or should I call you a fraud!? Do you think I couldn't tell a fucking hologram when I see one!" She lashed out, slapping the wizard, who was already very frightened, across the face.  
"Ouch!" He cried. "However did you know?!  
"What?! That you _weren't _a giant, ghostly decapitated head floating above fire!?" She rolled her eyes. "Gee, I don't fucking know! How dare you try to frighten me into submission!"

Selena knew she was reacting badly to something she knew about from the start, but seeing Elwynn, her brother, was the character playing the wizard was something which Selena simply could not stand: Her brother, the hedonistic idiot of the family, the firstborn, the heir, and even here, in her own dreams, he had one up over her! Well, not this time!  
"You vile, deceitful, cowardly excuse for a wizard!" She continued to hurl abuse at the quivering green dragon advancing on him as he backed away. "You're no wizard at all, are you?! you're just a seedy, pathetic little man!"  
She could see the fear in his eyes. However, the catharsis, coupled of years of inferiority complex in the face of her brother and his whoring, stupid mannerisms, meant that finally being able to lay into this dragon who looked like her brother had blinded her. It continued to blind her right up until the wizard turned tail and ran from the palace halls! Breathing heavily, it took her a moment to calm down, however, as soon as she did, the penny dropped: She'd fucked up again.  
"He's, he's gone." The lion spoke quietly.  
"It appears you frightened him away." The tin dragon added, looking a mix of angry and, for use of a rather inappropriate word, disheartened.  
"Does this mean I'm not getting my brain?" The scarecrow asked, looking upset.  
"And my heart?"  
"And courage?"  
"No, no no, wait!" Selena stammered, quickly feeling horrified at what she'd done. "Please, hold on! I can fix this!" She ran to the curtains, looking around the wizard's old hidey-hole. She rummaged around, and eventually found what she was looking for: A large sack, full of things! "Look!" she dragged it over, searching through the bag. "Here! A heart for the tin man, a brain for the scarecrow, look, it's a diploma!" She was trying, really she was, but it didn't seem to be working, and... Erm, look, hehe, Dutch courage. Clever." However, the group didn't look convinced. They were just things to them.  
"I don't get it." The scarecrow spoke, the wind thoroughly taken out of his sails.  
"Don't you see!?" Selena was practically begging at this point. "You had them all along! You didn't need the wizard to give them to you. You, you had them already! Please, you have to see that!"

Her pleas were met with sombre grumblings from the group, who slowly left the chamber, leaving her alone with Toto and a bag of worthless junk. She'd ruined everything. The wizard was just, gone; she was stuck in Oz, and still stuck in the Ruby Slippers; none of her companions had gotten what they desired, and she never befriended even one of them. She'd broken the story, and all because she let her anger, and her pride, get to her, time and time again.

She didn't know what to do, so, with Toto sleeping quietly on her back, she too left the chamber, her heart heavy. Perhaps she could return to Munchkinland, seek out Glinda and beg her to help, but then what if Glinda refused, or was unable to help? Selena could simply try clicking her heels and ending the story that way, but what if it didn't work? Or worse still, it did indeed take her home, but then she was still stuck in the magical shoes in the real world? If that was even possible...

However, her thoughts were distracted as she exited the palace, she froze upon seeing the sight before her. She was just in time to see a balloon, the wizard's balloon, floating away. She could perhaps follow it, though there was nothing to suggest that it would be going back to Avalar, besides, she'd never be able to follow the balloon for that long.  
But the other detail, easily the more significant detail, was the crowds. They were watching the balloon leave, but as soon as it vanished into the cloudy grey skies, they turned to Selena.  
"The wizard!" some of the crowd cried. "He's gone!"  
"She did it!" A woman cried, pointing to Selena: "She ousted the wizard as a fraud! She's the one who put him in exile!"  
"But who will rule us now!?"  
Selena blinked, shocked. As far as she knew, Oz was supposed to have a king: The Scarecrow, who came to power after Dorothy, the real Dorothy, left for Kansas. He was a good king, who ruled wisely and justly with his newfound brains. However, he was gone... There was only her left now.  
"Princess Selena, who will rule us now the wizard is gone?!" Called another voice, a guard, the captain of the guard perhaps? He came running over. Did Oz really not have any contingencies should the Wizard of Oz ever fled the Emerald City? Was there really nobody else? The temptation was too strong, she could not help herself.  
"Well, there's nobody else is there?" She spoke. "It's settled then. I'll become queen. At least until I can find a way to get home."

**There was a great mumbling, and then gradually an applause from the crowd as she declared herself 'Queen of Oz'. Landed at last, Selena couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, even though her failures still weighed heavily in her heart. Still, every cloud had a silver lining, right?**

*** * *  
To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Time passed since Oz had suddenly found itself without a leader, and Selena had declared herself queen in his place.** **A bewildered Emerald City had no other apparent choice but to accept what had happened, though many were nervous without the protection of the wizard, even after being ousted as a 'fraud'.**

**Selena now suddenly found herself stuck in the Land of Oz for another reason: She had a kingdom to rule! What's more, she wasn't even a ruler under someone else, such as her mother, she was her own queen of her own country!**

**The excitement of attaining something of a life-long goal didn't waver, but as Selena slept, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that she should temper her happiness, for it had come at a cost of failing to ensure her former companions got what they desired, and she was still no closer to getting home, or getting rid of the Ruby slippers.**

**She'd expected Glinda to appear and set things right after her confrontation with the wizard. However, days passed, and Glinda never came. Selena's impromptu coronation came and went, and still, Glinda never came. Selena was queen of Oz, and it looked like that was how things were going to stay...**

A crowd had gathered in the throne room. Where the wizard had once projected a giant, imposing face to hide his own meagre stature for all who came to see him, Selena now slouching upon a throne; she'd broken her own rule of avoiding using magic for things and had used a shape-shifting spell to take a more anthropomorphic form, it was more comfortable to stand and walk in the Ruby Slippers that way. Toto the wyvern now sat happily on her shoulder: Selena did not know what had happened to her other companions after they left, but at least Toto remained constantly loyal and loving, perhaps more than Selena deserved.

"People of Oz." A herald (a yellow dragon) shouted from the corner, dressed smartly in green, with a strange metal brace around one of his forelimbs. "Your queen wishes to address you with a request. A competition of sorts."  
This generated a curious grumble from the crowds, and Selena cleared her throat to speak.  
"Indeed." She spoke, attempting to impersonate her mother's oratory mannerisms. "Fair subjects, I had but a simple challenge." She sat back crossing her legs. "I have had quite enough of these ruby slippers. They make me a target to the Wicked Witch of the West, and I do not care for them, or their magic. My challenge is this: Whoever can remove these shoes from my feet may keep them as a reward." She shuffled about in her seat, watching the interested chatter of the men, women and children (both dragon, human and a wide range of other sapient creatures): Everyone knew about the magic and the beauty of the Ruby Slippers, nobody ever thought they might have the opportunity to have them for their own. It was a tempting proposition, all they had to do was take them from their queen's feet, and the shoes would be theirs! "Alright. With that settled. Who shall be the first to come forward?"

A large, fat, burly green dragon stood up.  
"That shall be me!" He spoke, in an unusually thick Welsh accent, which was strange for Oz. Proudly, the dragon, undressed save for a lumberjack's neck scarf (these were still dragons: Even if Selena had taken an anthropomorphic form, dragons didn't clothes. Thankfully this had translated over to Oz, even in her bipedal form), his eyes set upon the queen's shoes.  
"Well, when you're ready." Selena spoke. The lumberjack reached to grab one of the slippers with his paw, perhaps intending the obvious approach: Pulling them off. However, as his paw reached closer, there was a sudden zap, and he jumped back, yelping in pain! The Ruby Slippers, about to be agitated by a 3rd party, had sent a strong electric shock at the dragon's paws in defence of themselves. Perhaps they thought they were under the belief they were protecting their wearer; perhaps it was a callous move on the part of the Ruby Slippers to keep themselves bound to Selena's feet; perhaps they didn't have a mind of their own, and were just conducting the effects of the magic placed upon them. Whatever it was, clearly the shoes didn't want to be removed.

The failing of the lumberjack dragon made the crowd reel; they did not expect the shoes to do that, Selena herself hoped they wouldn't. However, for some, this was not enough of a deterrent to stop them. Another challenger emerged from the crowd, a female military draconian. What really caught Selena's attention was her appearance: She was a spitting image of her hero, Danthe Jarnhud, made bipedal. It made Selena go very quiet as she watched the Danthe Jarnhud-like draconian marched up to her queen and bowed.

"I shall try for you, my queen." She spoke. On her forepaws were a pair of thick leather gloves; perhaps she thought those would insulate them from the electric shocks of the Ruby Slippers? Indeed, it did seem to help. The draconian still winced as the shoes zapped her hands, but she made more progress than the dragon who came before: Her paws connected with the shoes. She then tugged, pulling as hard as she could, her face visually expressing her pain, as though she'd taken hold of a pawful of live electrical wiring. The shoes were hot now, buzzing angrily on Selena's feet. Suddenly, her foot lurched forward against her will, kicking the soldier in the chest, a large discharge of electricity, almost like a lightning bolt, flashed from the toes of the slipper, sending the draconian flying back and landing in a heap at the base of the throne's platform! The crowd gasped, frightened at the power of the Ruby slippers. Selena herself couldn't stop staring at the shoes on her feet with a mortified look upon her face, watching as the slippers finally cooled and settled: She didn't want to kick that draconian, the shoe made her foot do it!  
"I'm so sorry." Selena apologised, getting up and walking over to the injured soldier. "I didn't know they'd do that. Are you alright?"  
The draconian groaned, pulling herself up, her uniform was slightly burnt where the slipper had kicked her. "Hmm, that was one hell of a kick, your majesty."  
"I didn't made my foot do that. It just, _did._" Selena stammered, helping the soldier up, as a few other people came to check up on her. The sight of her great uncle getting hurt, and her child hero being laid low in service of her was too much for Selena to handle. "Alright. That's enough." She spoke to the crowd, shaking slightly. "Nobody else is getting hurt like that. Go on! Clear off! The contest's over!" She wrapped her cloak around her and walked in a fast trot out of the hall.

**Selena's bedchamber was a vast room, with a grand balcony overlooking the rest of the city. Everything was coloured green, or made of emeralds (as one might expect from such a place). It was big, it was comfortable, and it was quiet, though not for long...  
**  
Selena, holding herself together quite nicely, quietly shut the towering double doors to her room, and locked them. With the door sealed, Selena stopped trying to hold herself together. The anthropomorphic dragoness screamed out in frustration, throwing herself onto her bed and tugging at the shoes with every ounce of her strength. They made no attempt to harm her (they were bound to serve her after all) but the Ruby slippers remained fused to her feet. She grabbed a fire poker, placed in a rack, unused next to a fireplace; she angrily jammed this fire poker between the sole of her right foot and the inside of the slipper, and pulled, attempting to crowbar the shoe from her foot: Slowly, something began to give. A moment of brief excitement flashed in Selena's mind, until she looked down, and saw the truth: All she'd managed to do was bend the fire poker out of shape!  
Another scream escaped Selena, who gave up trying to pull the shoes off, and proceeded to violently kick one of her bedposts in the shoes, doing so until her toes hurt, she then slumped against the bed, shaking with rage.  
"Why?!" She suddenly shouted at the shoes, which continued to glitter in the daylight, not so much as scuffed by her harsh treatment of them. "WHY won't you come off?! Why do I have to be stuck in you!? You're just a pair of stupid shoes! Why won't you just COME OFF!?"

Silence fell on the room after Selena's rant ended. She didn't expect an answer from _shoes_, this maddening experience hadn't actually driven her to insanity yet. She continued to stare at the Ruby Slippers however, feeling her toes wriggle against the inside of the shoes, as if under the hope she could perhaps intimidate the shoes into coming off on their own accord.  
The silence was broken by a quiet scratching on her bedroom doors, followed by a tiny squeak. Selena then realised that Toto was not with her. She must have left her in the throne room when she stormed out. She sighed, climbing to her feet and unlocking the doors. The wyvern yelped happily and flapped up to Selena's shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. She smiled weakly at this.  
"Oh, you..." She sighed again, scratching under the wyvern's chin. "You're probably the only thing keeping me sane in this place." As she went to close the doors, she was quickly approached by a servant.  
"Your majesty. We heard shouting from your room, are you alright?" the servant, a red draconian, with blond hair, dressed as a maid asked.  
"Yes yes, I'm fine." Selena answered, though she shivered slightly. "I'm a bit cold though. Go find me something to wear, but nothing too girly. I'm also thirsty, fetch me something to drink."  
The maid nodded. "Yes your majesty." She smiled, and left, Selena shut the door behind her, and slumped onto the bed. The bedding itself was far softer than anything Selena had previously experienced, the blankets and the mattress was very comfortable indeed, and allowed her time to think.

**Selena didn't ****_hate _****the Ruby Slippers, not really. They were a perfect fit on her feet, and now she'd taken to doing everything as a biped, they were actually pretty comfortable. However, there was the fact they were making her a target for attack, the fact they were taken from the feet of a dead person, and most of all, the fact they wouldn't come off; these were things which made her want rid of them as soon as possible. At the very least, she wanted to have control over whether or not she wore them or not. On the other paw, she was fortunate in other regard: She had been stuck in the shoes for days, and it wasn't exactly cold outside, and yet, despite this, no traces of a bad smell had come from her feet. Perhaps some of the Ruby Slipper's magic wasn't so bad?**

Time passed, and the maid promptly returned, baring food, drink, and clothes. The clothes were quite nice: Some loose fitting white trousers, a green blouse and underwear (while not vital to maintain a dragon's decency, was good for keeping a bipedal dragon warm), all of which was a nice fit, and Selena was pretty happy to wear. The food was a plate of various cheeses and crackers (something Selena had a certain love of). For drinks, there was another plate, baring two jugs and glasses: One contained a deep, green coloured lemonade; the other was a jug of iced water.

With a glass of water in one hand, and a book in the other, she sat back in her bed, and set about reading the history and the various peoples of Oz. She was queen now, but really (though Selena refused to admit it aloud), her sister Alexandria would made the better ruler of this place: Alexandria adored the entire of the Wizard of Oz and its lore, and she knew (and often bored Selena with) every single piece of trivia and detail about the story and its lore. _Alexandria _would remember the differences between Munchkins and Gillikins, and she'd know just what the hell a _Quadling _was.

She continued to flick through the pages, finally relaxing as she continued to read, her legs crossed as she tapped the air with her foot. She expected the wicked witch to be an issue again: By this point in the story, the witch was supposed to send forth a threatening message in the sky, demanding "Dorothy's" surrender. Selena scoffed disdainfully at the thought: _Her mother_ never surrendered, _Danthe Jarnhud_ never surrendered, with that in mind, Selena's stubbornness set her in stone: _She _wasn't prepared to surrender to any witches either! She set down the book, intending to take a nap for a moment, though thoughts still circled in Selena's head: Perhaps she could fit some sprinklers, or a big hose in her room, should the wicked witch ever attacked the palace.

However, napping proved impossible. With the threat of the witch potentially neutralised, at least for Selena, her thoughts turned to Oz itself: How _did _you rule a kingdom? A sudden sense of dread overcame her: In all the time she'd aspired to be a queen of her own kingdom, had she really not considered just how she'd actually do it? She didn't know how well the wizard ruled over the Emerald City, and Oz as a whole, but things seemed at least stable, and everyone appeared happy and affluent; a high bar had been set for her to overcome, and she didn't even know how to start.

A sense of sadness grew in her, though she fought to suppress it. Selena's mother ruled over the entire empire, with direct control over the Imperial Fiefdom, the old kingdom of Avalar itself. Selena was her youngest daughter, and she'd given her a duchy within the kingdom years ago, but Selena had turned it down: Ddraig effectively did everything for Selena, and had so much involvement over the duchy's governance she might as well have not bothered at all; what's more, Selena had her own job to do. Now however, even Ddraig's old court archivist was a viscount with his own estate along the Isera River: Was it just that Ddraig knew that Selena didn't know what she was doing? It couldn't be! She hadn't even been given the chance to prove herself yet! It was that feeling that fear that nobody had faith in her to rule, which had caused Selena to grow somewhat distant from her family. She loved them, but they treated her like a child. It wasn't fair!

At that moment, there was a familiar sound of an explosion, though this time it sounded like something breaking the sound barrier. Climbing from her bed, she ran over to her balcony, taking the jug of water in hand to see what was in store: A form flew through the air, tracing a message in the sky: "SURRENDER SELENA" it read over the skies; the wildfire from her burning the poppy field had finally died down and the sky turned blue once again, though the damage to the grasslands and forests around the Emerald City was apparent to see, as a charred and burned waste lay where green hills and fields of flowers once stood.  
The flier in the air then turned, descending at speed towards the balcony! It grew bigger and bigger as it neared, however, it wasn't the wicked witch! Instead, it was a red dragoness, clad in a dress similar to that of Glinda, but red. Selena as a reflex threw the jug at the invader, watching it splash all over...

"Eve?" Selena gasped, looking confused as the red dragoness angrily shook the cold water off herself.  
"Good lord!" She spluttered. "How rude! Do you treat all of your guests like this?"  
"Only witches who threaten me. If you're not Eve, who are you?!" Selena demanded.  
"I am the Good Witch of the South. I was told a dragoness fell from the sky, a near identical copy to Glinda the Good Witch of the North! A dragoness who slaughtered the Wicked Witch of the East and took her place, taking her ruby slippers and usurping her powers!" She scowled, eyes glared as she looked down at Selena's feet.  
"That's nonsense!" Selena stammered. "I'm not a witch! Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, magicked them onto my feet. If I could get these blasted things off, I would've done so by now! But I can't! They won't come off, alright!?"  
Selena was angry, once again, one of her sisters was being turned against her; she could feel the shoes vibrating with magical energy on her feet again, she faltered, crossing her legs slightly: She _was_ angry, but she didn't want to start a fight.  
The Good Witch didn't seem convinced. "That has not stopped you from laying waste to Oz in your pursuit of power." She hissed. "You maimed Tugg, the Talking Tree of Munchkin River! His friends, Elm and Oak, both confirmed that _you _were the one who set him alight, after you attempted to steal his apples!"  
"I was hungry, and he hurt my baby wyvern!" Selena protested, though she did feel guilty. "...I lost my temper at it. It, it was just a tree..."  
"Just like all the trees you laid waste to near the poppy fields of the Emerald City. A wildfire caused by _your _wanton destruction!"  
Selena went quiet. "Those, those poppies were cursed. They would've put me in an eternal sleep if I tried to cross them."  
"So you had to set fire to the entire valley?"  
"That was an accident! I only meant to burn the poppies!"  
"And then, to top it all off, you invade the Emerald City, denounce the Wizard of Oz, and usurp the Crown of Oz for your own."  
"That..." She faltered. "...That was a mistake. I got angry... I didn't mean to do that, but then he was gone, and there was nobody else to rule in his place..." Again her words failed her. "...I'm sorry... But, but I'm here now. How can I prove to you that I'm not a witch, and that I want the chance to be a good ruler?"  
Eve snorted, looking away. "Fine, Selena. I'll give you one chance, on one condition: You must prove you deserve to be queen, and that you're not the new Wicked Witch of the East. Go kill the Wicked Witch of the West." She smirked. "If you win, you can remain queen, and I'll gladly help you rule this land. If you fail... well, the wicked witch will surely kill you, cut off your feet, anything to get her paws on the Ruby Slippers."  
Selena snorted. "Why'd you think I want to take them off? I don't exactly like being a marked dragon. Still, if the witch is dead, it won't matter anymore..."

**So it was settled: A gauntlet had been thrown down, and Selena was not one to shy away from a challenge. The mission was quite simple: Travel to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, who ruled as a tyrant over the otherwise peaceful people of the Winkie Country, and then, after she'd killed her, bring back the witch's broom as proof.  
**  
"You're going alone?" Eve stammered. "That's suicide! You are truly insane, Selena Di Avalaria!"  
Selena knew this would not be an easy task. She wasn't exactly going to be going with a song in her heart and a skip in her step (she hated skipping). "I know of the companions who came with you to this place. They become something a tight band of companions since they got here. What about them?"  
The green dragon sighed. "We never really became friends when we got here... It's my fault, I was a total bitch on my way here." Selena explained, steeling herself. "Besides. I don't need them. Really I don't! I'm strong, I'm a fire dragoness, and I'll have Toto with me if nothing else."

Aside from Toto, she'd be traveling alone. With the vast fountain of _Wizard of Oz_ trivia she'd use to flood Selena's brain, her sister Alexandria had shared a number of pieces of information about creatures, magic and items which cropped up in the story: Golden wishing caps, truth ponds, jitterbugs and more. All of these possible dangers and more which Selena would no doubt have to traverse at some point or another. It wouldn't be a problem, Selena was going to go prepared: She'd be donning a suit of green metal armour, as well as taking with her one of the fancy polearm weapons of the Emerald City guards. She'd be carrying her own travel supplies, and a large quantity of water for her confrontation with the witch herself.  
"I cannot convince you otherwise, can I?" The Good Witch ask, a frown upon her face as Selena shook her head.  
"I'll be fine. Really. I'm a bloody fire dragon. I seem to be the only dragon in Oz who knows how to use their elements. I'll, be, fine."  
The witch sighed. "You're a stubborn fool, Selena." She snorted. "Fine. But should you need help... Give me your wyvern's collar." Selena frowned, doing so. She watched the witch take it in her paws, muttering something towards it as it started to glow.  
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Selena demanded. The collar's brown leather was far smoother, cleaning and unchipped, and the little disk sparkled with a new, magical enchantment, and now the witch fastened it around Toto's neck.  
"I enchanted it." She answered flatly. "A protection spell. While Toto wears that collar, she shall be protected from harm. She'll be able to carry a message in her claws. If you need help, send Toto. The collar will show her how to find the safety of the Emerald City. She can bring help if you need it."  
Selena stopped complaining: She couldn't argue the objective usefulness of that.

**The Good Witch of the South had done all she could to help Selena, who was insistent that she could handle this mission on her own. It would be a long journey, requiring to go off the beaten track of the Yellow Brick Road and venture to the witch's castle, a place shrouded in darkness compared to the rest of Oz. Still, Selena was unwilling to stand down in the face of a ****_spooky castle_****. She was the princess of Avalar, and the queen of Oz! Not some helpless little girl!**

As Alexandria would often tell Selena, the appearance of the Winkie Country differed between the books and the films, where the land was far more sinisterly designed in the films. It appeared to be the appearance from the films from which the country appeared to be based, and was very dark, barren and mountainous. Selena had been travelling for hours, and having seen how much further she had yet to go, and the geography which stood in her way, she groaned in frustration as the smooth, bright, colourful valleys of the rest of Oz faded into the horizon behind her, leaving on the Winkie Country in its place: Magical or not, a perfect fit upon her feet or not, the Ruby Slippers were still _heeled_ shoes, and she did not look forward to having to hike across the country in her frilly socks and magic shoes: A pair of hiking boots would've been more appropriate, and Selena chalked it up as yet another reason why she so desperately wanted her feet out of those slippers.

She continued to trek through the country. Toto would sometimes fly alongside her as she walked, sometimes she'd sleep on her shoulder. Selena had herself been very tempted to resume her natural form and take flight, she knew this was dangerous however: No doubt the Wicked Witch of the West knew of Selena's plans or movements, and would have sent forth a welcoming party of some description; she assumed that flying monkeys, an iconic minion in the films, would be sent after her, but would they be the same here as in the real thing? Knowing Selena's luck, she could well be sending dreadwings (giant, bat like winged mounts of some considerable size) mounted be soldiers. It was unsettling, it was dark, it was cold, and her gear (carried in a large rucksack on her back), weapon and armour were heavy and tiring. As Selena feared, her magic shoes were not well suited to walking through rough, uneven ground in the dark forest of a large and rocky realm: Her feet were beginning to hurt.

Selena attempted to continue on through the rough ground of the dark forests. The wind blew cold in the night, and she held her cloak close to her chest. She noticed the log of a fallen tree: It was dry and smooth, it was perfect. Selena sat down upon it, crossing her right leg over her left and reaching forward to massage her foot; ideally, she'd have taken the shoes off so she could rest her feet. In her tired state, she tried once again, lightly tugging at the shoe, to no effect: She knew it was a folly to try, but each time she tried a though occurred to her: "This time, perhaps this time they'll actually come off." A vain hope which resulted in nothing but frustration.  
...And yet, she'd given up trying to hate the shoes: The shoes _were _very pretty, and it wasn't as though they didn't look good on her. **If **they were to be stuck forever, perhaps someday, after the witch had been defeated, perhaps she could get used to their permanent presence on her; then, maybe then, she could actually come to enjoy having them on. She sighed: None of this would've been a problem for Alexandria. She _would _happy wear them even if they were magically stuck on forever, and she'd have loved every minute of them. Selena smiled at the thought, her sister really did look pretty adorable in her costume, before all this mess happened.

Time passed, perhaps an hour or so. Fatigue had blended with tiredness. She planned to find a clearing, and then she'd set up camp for the night. Climbing to her feet, she walked on. As she ventured through the woods, the air became slowly more humid, and insects buzzed around a nearby stream. This was something which didn't concern her at first, none of them seemed especially unusual. However, as she trekked on, she noticed the insects disappeared, but there remained the sound of an insect buzzing nearby. Then, she saw said insect: A blue and pink mosquito-like critter, except it was the size of a little hummingbird. However, it didn't buzz, nor did it hum: Instead, it made a chattering, jittery noise. The second the bug saw Selena, it seemed interested only in her. It buzzed around her angrily, waking Toto (who slept on her shoulder) and causing the wyvern to growl at the insect. Irritated by the buzzing, Selena swung at the creature.  
"Go on!" She hissed. "Go away! Shoo!"  
This didn't work. The bug buzzed around her swings, charging at her. Selena yelped in pain as the creature suddenly stung her in the side of the neck! It didn't last long however: Toto snarled at the bug, lunging at the creature, clamping her jaws around its abdomen and sinking her teeth down through it, killing the creature, sending its blood and bodily juices everywhere. Toto couldn't avoid a large amount of it going in her mouth, and it didn't taste nice, and so Toto threw it away, causing the dead insect to land on the floor with a tiny thud.

The sting stopped Selena in her tracks for a moment: It REALLY hurt! She rubbed the place of the string with her hand, feeling how tender and hot it felt. Her foot tapped against a harder part of the floor to a silent melody as she felt her entire body getting slowly hotter, as though fevered. She'd have to rest up for a while, and take some medicine from her supplies in case the sting had made her ill. She couldn't stay here however, and so she walked on.  
...However, as she walked, her steps began to change, becoming more fluid and flamboyant with each step. Suddenly she was skipping! She tried to slow her pace, but she couldn't stop it. The more she tried to walk properly, the less progress she actually seemed to be making. She suddenly made a twirl on the points of her toes. Her face was flush red with embarrassment: She didn't mean to do that!  
Without warning, she began dancing. It overtook her body rapidly and completely, she couldn't stop! Her hands, arms, legs, feet, all of them were forced to waltz against her control.  
"Damn it Alex!" Selena cursed in her panic. "Why did you have to tell me about fucking jitterbugs!?"

**The Jitterbug. It wasn't something that should ever have been a problem for Selena: It had been omitted from the films, and so it shouldn't have been there. What was dangerous about that bug was that, upon stinging its victim, the venom of the sting would give the victim a literal 'dance fever', forcing them to dance an increasingly fast and frantic dance no matter what they did to try to stop.**

It was a terrifying experience for Selena. The jitterbug was a minion of the Wicked Witch, and she knew it. This was the witch's play, and she'd played her cards well, for now Selena was stuck. She couldn't stop her body from dancing, dancing in armour, carrying a vast amount of heavy gear, while already tired. Her legs screamed with fatigue-induced agony.  
What's worse was Toto: She'd swallowed some of the Jitterbug venom, and it had poisoned her too! In the air, the frightened wyvern was being compelled to do areal loop the loops and fly at immense speeds in the air. But even _that _wasn't the pinnacle of the frightening experience: The venom had clamped Selena's hands tightly shut around her halberd, which her body now proceeded to twirl and spin around like a baton! She was terrified because she couldn't control where the halberd went, nor could Toto control what her body did: If the halberd hit her, it didn't matter if it was blade or bottom, the speed and force of the impact would kill that baby wyvern instantly!  
The exhaustion, the dark, the loss of control, and the realisation of the danger of her environment to her and her wyvern: It all got too much. "Help!" Selena cried outas fright overtook her. "Somebody! Anybody! Please, make it stop!"

Toto was just a baby, and she was the first to succumb to the venom. Her little body was exhausted, and fell out of the air with a thud as she hit the ground, too tired to move, she was out cold: At least she was safe of Selena's deadly dance.  
Selena's own dancing grew so erratic and so manic that her vision became a blur: She was dizzy, she could barely see, and she was tired. Oh, so very tired. The last thing she saw before her shaking legs gave out from under her was bipedal forms landing in a circle around her, then her vision faded, and everything turned black...

**Time passed, though this time Selena had no clue as to how much time had passed when she finally regained some degree of consciousness. She immediately knew, upon reconnecting with her senses one by one, that she was not in the place where she had fallen afoul of the Jitterbug's sting, and the accursed dancing which followed...**

Selena woke atop a cold, stone floor. Looking around, she was in a dark chamber, a prison cell, illuminated only by a single flickering torch; a small, glassless window was secured with rows of metal bars. Dry straw was underneath Selena's back, and Toto paws at her master's face, trying to wake her. The green anthropomorphic dragoness sat up, hearing a rattle as she moved: Around her ankles were a pair of thick, metal manacles, both of which were tethered together by a heavy iron chain, which itself was tethered to the wall; it was rusted and it was old and brittle, but it was still too strong for Selena to break without tools. Her armour was gone, as were her things: No doubt if she could, the witch would've taken Selena's shoes as well.

For some strange reason, the witch had not put such effort into restraining Toto: Her wings were tied together, and she was roped to a wall. A few shallow scratch marks could be seen on her neck next to her collar: The witch must have tried to remove Toto collar, but was unable to get it off the little wyvern, either through magic or through struggle, and so she gave up.

The witch had stolen her pack and her things, but she clearly hadn't made much of an effort to search Selena's person. She forced her mind to focus through exhaustion and through fear of her imprisonment, and set about a plan: She was chained up, and even if she wasn't, there was no away for her to escape this cell on her own, but _Toto _was small enough to slip through the bars in the window. Selena quickly reached into her pockets, pulling forth a small, crumpled sheet of paper, and a small pencil. Hastily, Selena proceeded to scribble "Captured by the Wicked Witch of the West. Imprisoned and chained in a dungeon cell in her castle. Please send help. Signed, Selena." She had to hurry, for she could hear footsteps approaching her cell door! Quickly, Selena broke the ropes with her claws, freeing the wyvern, who squeaked happily as she fanned her wings. Selena had no time however, and quickly attached the letter to the rope, and in turn tied the rope around Toto's leg. She scooped up the wyvern baby, and ran to the window.  
"Go, Toto, get help." She hissed, the wyvern made a confused, nervous peep at Selena, but the dragoness held firm. "I need you to do this! Go, please!"  
It made one last sad squeak, before taking flight and escaping. It was just in time: The door rattled and clicked, before swinging open and the Wicked Witch of the West entered the room.  
"Aha! My little pretty!" She cackled, entering the room. "I told you I'd get you!" She sneered. "Did you wish to pay me a visit? Did you think I wouldn't know you were advancing upon my castle, armed with weapons and clad in armour?!" She scoffed. "I don't know why you came here, but it's very opportune to me! Why fly to the Emerald City and demand your surrender, when you come right to my door? How very thoughtful! Don't you worry, I shall yet find a way to get those shoes off your damn feet, and then I'll have no further use for you!"  
"A fat chance of that!" Selena growled, putting up a defence, she suddenly realised something: In such close quarters, the Wicked Witch of the West sounded... Familiar. "I can't get them off, but even if I could, I won't let you take my slippers!"  
"I don't think you get a choice in the matter, dear!" The witch hissed. "If you will not give the Ruby Slippers to me, then I shall have to take them by force, but all in due course. I suggest you make yourself comfortable, I doubt you'll be leaving here any time soon!" With that, the witch cackled, leaving the room and slamming the door behind her.

**Being a prisoner was not something any sane individual would call a pleasant experience.** **It was strange to say the least: The witch was never supposed to put this much effort into containing the 'Dorothy' of the story. Indeed, the witch didn't so much as restrain Dorothy normally, and was indeed as arbitrary as to present her with a timer as to how long she could expect to live. Here, the witch was taking no chances. Why?**

**Selena had a theory: Dorothy was a weak, frightened little girl: Selena wasn't. Selena was an adult fire dragoness; she was strong, she was clever, and most importantly, she knew exactly how to kill the Wicked Witch of the West. Simply put, Selena was ****_threatening_**** to the witch, forcing her to up her game. It proved to be yet another example of Selena's knowledge of the field causing her problems, but she found amusement in the face that she had the witch scared.**

**However, it wouldn't do her much good: She was still a prisoner in the witch's castle. Unless she could come up with a plan, or someone came to her aid, she was going to die in this castle. This truth, through all of Selena's bravado, scared her: She didn't want to die, and she especially didn't want to die in a place as awful as this.**

Hours passed in that dungeon cell, and the thought of simply clicking her heels and escaping home had crossed her mind: She could live with having the Ruby Slippers stuck to her feet forever if that was what would happen, but at least she would _live_. However, as much as she may want to, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She'd already sent away Toto to get help, and it was almost as though, with that knowledge, she couldn't _make _herself do it, not when people could be coming to help... But, what if they weren't? She hadn't been a terribly good queen, hell, she hadn't been a terribly good _person_: The Good Witch of the South would've made a far better queen, and everyone knew it.

Cold wind blew through the cell window. There was nothing to keep Selena warm, and so she sat on the floor, holding her cloak close to herself, huddling deep within the thick velvet, her tail coiled around her ankles. She felt... Small, at least in the confinement of this prison, alone. There had to be _some_ way to escape! Surely? All she needed was _something_, anything, which could give her an opportunity...  
At that moment, the cell door opened, and one of the witch's guards, a tall black-dragon dressed in a blue and grey uniform, entered. In one of his paws, he carried a wooden tray with some food on it.  
"Food." He grumbled. Selena looked down at the tray's contents: A chunk of bread and some leftover gravy, as well as a thin soup and cutlery, but nothing to drink: Selena knew why she might not be provided with water, but she sensed an opportunity.  
"What slop is this?!" Selena scowled, rising swiftly to her feet. "Bread and dripping? I am a queen!" She grabbed the dragon's sleeve, gripping on tightly. "Hey! I don't even have anything to drink!"  
The dragon growled, ripping his foreleg free and hitting her across the face! Selena tumbled to the ground, watching the dragon scowl quietly.  
"The witch said you weren't to have any water." He snorted. "She didn't order us to give you food either. Ungrateful whelp." With that, he left, closing the door behind him. Selena scowled, he'd hit her so hard her lip was now bleeding, but she'd managed to do what she hoped: She'd torn part of his uniform, on which was a pin, which the guard had used to tighten up his sleeves; it would serve as a most useful lock-pick, hopefully.

Selena didn't know how many hours had passed as she picked and toiled at the locks on the shackles, the little pin making enough of a rattle and a fuss in the lock to keep Selena going, but no precious click to indicate that she'd freed herself. She grew more and more frustrated as the locks continued to hold firm, refusing to let go. Darkness had descended outside, so Selena had to assume hours had passed as she laboured with the makeshift lock-pick.  
Suddenly, there was a loud squawk from the window. Selena looked up, gasping slightly: There, in the window, chirped Toto, sitting on the windowsill; she looked very pleased with herself.  
"Toto!" Selena cried, quickly hushing herself as she took the wyvern in her hands, before it hopped up onto her shoulder again. "Oh, I've missed you... What are you doing here?" It was a stupid question, but she didn't want to see the little baby creature in such a dangerous place; however, she then noticed that the letter and rope was gone around her leg. "Hmm..." She pondered. "...Did you... Did you manage to get back to the Emerald City?" Toto peeped happily in response. Selena scurried over to the window, peering out: There was nobody to be seen, no obvious sign of confrontation or commotion. "Is help coming?" She asked the wyvern, who peeped in response, much as she had done the first time. "...Can you even understand a word I'm saying?" Again she squeaked, and Selena sighed, slumping against a wall. "Hm, just as I thought."  
Selena adjusted her seating position on the floor, allowing for the baby wyvern to curl up on her lap to snooze after her long flight. Both of them were tired, Selena was hungry as her food was unsatisfying. At least one of them was comfortable as they both dozed off.

Shouting suddenly woke Selena and Toto from their sleep, a great commotion outside the walls of the cell. Her throat was dry and her head in a daze. Toto had jumped up, her wings flared, growling at the unseen danger, under the belief that she was a force to be reckoned with, forgetting she was no bigger than Selena's foot.  
Before Selena herself could react, the door burst open, with splinters of wood flying everywhere. From the remains of the door emerged three guards, or so it appeared. It took Selena a moment to figure out what was going on. However, she quickly started to piece things together once she realized one of the guards, under his uniform, was a dragon, made of _metal_...  
Toto was the first to clock onto the true identity of the three 'guards'. Of course she would, they'd got her message once she got back to the Emerald City.  
"Selena!" One of the guards cried out, quickly taking off his headwear, revealing the scarecrow. "Oh thank goodness you're okay."  
Selena blinked, not entirely believing what she was seeing. "Scarecrow?" She looked to the other two. "Tin Dragon? Lion?" She blinked as she looked around. "What are you doing here?"  
"Rescuing you, of course." The Tin Dragon responded. "Come now, we haven't time to waste." He lifted his axe above his head, bringing it crashing down upon the chains which bound the shackles on Selena's legs together, shattering them, and freeing Selena's legs from the wall-fitted restraints!  
"But..." She stammered. "...Why? I ruined the chances of you getting the things you wanted. I saw how upset you were. That was _my _fault!"  
"Well, yes." The tin dragon explained. "You're certainly quite abrasive, and short tempered, but you've helped all of us in at least some way or another. You helped me when I was rusted stiff."  
"And you helped free me from that corn field." Added the scarecrow.  
"And..." The lion added, still rather quiet for a lion dragon creature. "Y-you got me out of that dark forest. I'd still be hiding in there like a big dumb coward if it wasn't for you."  
"You tried to help all of us. It wouldn't be right if we didn't help _you_ when you needed it." The scarecrow offered Selena a paw, helping her up. "Come on. Let's get out of here."  
"No!" Selena suddenly snapped as her thoughts came to. "I have to stop the wicked witch. That's the only reason I'm here." She joined them as they left the cell. "But, I need water..." She meant that in multiple ways: She couldn't remember the last time she'd had something to drink; the witch would die if she came into contact with water, Selena would certainly be in trouble if she _didn't_.

**Apparently, it was the Tin Dragon who first came to the decision that the trio had to come to Selena's aid: Upon reading Toto's note, he'd felt bad for abandoning her, and felt a strong compulsion to go to her aid. The escape plan was Scarecrow's idea, forming it as he observed the guard patrol patterns outside the castle. It fell to Lion, and his sense of stealth, to help the Tin Dragon incapacitate several guards so they could steal their uniforms, and their keys.**

**As the trio brought Selena water, and food which would satisfy, a realization came to her: They'd done it. They'd managed to find the special things they were each looking for. Scarecrow had shown his intellect and his sharp mind; the Tin Dragon had shown someone he cared, and that he had a heart, and the lion had been brave in the face of his fears. It should've made Selena happy, but it didn't: They'd found these things, but through no thanks to her. They'd befriended each other, and found what they sought through their own friendship. All Selena had done was get herself captured, and gave them the chance to demonstrate it. She'd still failed to give them what they needed. She'd still failed at being ****_Dorothy_****.**

**Still. There was ****_one _****thing she could do successfully in this place.**

"Water?" The tin dragon spoke, sounding sceptical. "That's what kills the wicked witch?"  
"I didn't believe it either when I first heard it, but I know it's true. Trust me on this." Selena retorted, pouring water from a wall mounted faucet into a wooden bucket, which she set down on a table nearby. "I just need to find her. I know she'll be here. It's her castle, and she won't be able to resist trying to get her paws on the Ruby Slippers."  
They'd never left the guard barracks, though they expected the other guards to be upon them soon. That didn't matter: As soon as Selena killed the witch, her minions would quickly fall in line.  
The trio would have to keep the other guards out of the way: The witch knew Selena was trying to kill her, it might not be as easy as normal; she certainly wouldn't be aiming at the scarecrow, that's for sure.

Suddenly, the witch's minions burst onto the scene, it was four to one! A battle broke out in the cramped chamber. However, their focus was not on Selena, but to suppress the others: At not a moment's notice, Toto launched from her shoulder, hissing and spitting!  
"Toto, no!" Selena cried, but the wyvern persisted regardless. It flew at one of the guards attacking the scarecrow, biting and clawing at the minion with its short fangs and stubby claws: It was a hopeless attack, and the guard grabbed the wyvern by the throat, scowling as it clawed and squeaked. Selena could only be thankful the guard had no intention of killing the baby, they both knew he could've. He could've tightened his grip and choked the wyvern, watching it as it died. But he didn't: The guards weren't evil, they were just following orders.

As for the witch, she wanted Selena for herself. She approached from the air, cackling as she landed through a window. The blue membrane of her wings, and the gold bracelets upon them glistened in the candle light, and a wicked smile was on her face.  
"Hello again, my pretty!" The witch greeted, her voice no longer baring its higher pitched, sneering tone, it sounded familiar, scolding, angry: Selena knew she'd heard it before somewhere. "You're a sly one, aren't you!? I've had enough of your games!" She approached the guard who held Toto hostage, snarling at him, she snatched the wyvern in her paws. "I told you I'd get your little wyvern." She sneered. "Now, give me my slippers. I can cut her throat! I can put her in a sack and throw her in the river! I can bash her over the head! Or, I could do far worse than that, and I will! ...If you don't give me those Ruby Slippers!"  
Did she know? Did the Wicked Witch of the West know that Selena knew her weakness to water? She'd made no attempt to get the bucket of water away from her captive. Selena could end this, here and now, but she had to get the witch to release Toto, then she needed to get close enough that she could soak her in water, and seal her fate.  
"You're a hateful old hag!" The scarecrow shouted from the room.  
"Quiet, you sack of old straw!" The witch spat. "I'll nail you to a post by the neck and the hands! I'll burn you! You'll wish you stayed in your corn field!"  
"Enough!" Selena cried, a gambit in play: She had to do something, she couldn't let her hurt them; not the wyvern, not the scarecrow, not the lion or the tin dragon: Not any of them! "I surrender..." She sighed. "Let my friends and my wyvern go, and I'll let you take my shoes from me. Just let them go."  
The witch's mouth formed a smirk. "Oh, very well. I do wonder what you're going to do to stop me once I've got them?" She scoffed, advancing, shoving the baby wyvern back into the hands of another guard. She reached for Selena's feet, suddenly reeling back in pain as a flash came from the Ruby Slippers, shocking the witch's forepaws. Selena snarled, and lashed out, she kicked the witch. There was a loud clash, like thunder, and a large bolt of lightning struck the witch, sending her flying: What had once been used against innocents by accident turned into one hell of a powerful kick!  
"You nasty little liar!" The witch scowled! "I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"  
Selena grinned to herself, picking up the bucket of water. "Oh, I think not."  
"No! You put that bucket back!" The witch growled. "I'm warning you!"

That wasn't going to work, not now. With one large swing, she let fly the water from the bucket, sending it down upon the Wicked Witch of the West, who screamed in agony as she reeled back, her hat flying off. Selena froze suddenly, seeing the "Witch's" face for the first time: The green oozed from the melting dragonness' scales, it was only make-up: Her scales were black.

It was Ddraigtanto. Ddraig, her mother, was the Wicked Witch of the West.

"No!" Selena cried in horror, forgetting she was the witch, forgetting this was Oz, and forgetting everyone around her: All she saw was her mother, dying by Selena's own hand. "Oh ancestors no!" She reached to try to grab her, as if she could somehow help. She was suddenly pushed back, given a look of venomous hatred from the dying dragoness.  
"Keep away from me!" She howled. "Look what you've done! I'm melting! Melting! All my work, ruined!" She moaned out her dying words as Selena sobbed in terror at the sight. "Please, I'm sorry! I didn't know! Oh gods! Mother!"

...And then she was gone. All that was left was a cloak, an old hat, and a broom. At the bottom of this small mound of cloths was Selena, hunched over the clothes, weeping. She'd done this. At that moment, she didn't care about what had happened before: Ddraig was her mother, and she'd killed her.  
"I'm sorry..." She croaked quietly to herself. "...I... I didn't know. I should've seen the signs and I didn't. I... I..." She fell silent, though she couldn't stop her eyes from shedding tears. She burrowed her face into her hands, kneeling over the remains, crying until she could cry no more. All this time, she'd sought to kill the witch, and now she had, she wished she hadn't. Why did it have to be _her?!_

**The others couldn't understand Selena's grief, only Toto sat at her side, sadly chirping at her master, nudging her with her snout, sad that she was sad, though the baby wyvern couldn't possibly understand why.**

**For Selena, the world had become deathly quiet in the face of the witch's death. The guards, now free, cheered around her, and she wanted to break their necks for it: They were cheering that Ddraig, her mother, was dead. However, the thing which broke Selena's heart the most was two things: The first was how much Selena had wanted to kill the witch, all that time, this being who wanted to take everything she had from her, and was a constant shadow over her. The second was that Ddraig, in her dying moments, shoved Selena away. What could she expect? Selena had murdered her sister, stole her magic, hunted her down and killed her too.**

**Everyone in this story was being portrayed be somebody she knew, this was true from the very start. Glinda was Alexandria, her father was the tin man, and the list went on. All of them, be them friends or family, she'd pushed away or hurt them to varying extents. She'd not been the best friend in the world, and yet, for some reason or another, they stuck with her...**

**...It dawned on Selena at that moment: This was everything Selena deserved. She'd been pushing her family away for years, and it was killing all of them. She'd been a terrible daughter, and a terrible dragoness: She didn't deserve to be a queen. She didn't even deserve to bear the name Avalaria.**

**...Time passed, and eventually, the guards left, going home. The trio kept at her side, unsure why she cried, but standing by her nonetheless in spite of everything, and so the scarecrow, whom Selena seemed the closest to out of the three, had a wing draped over her back the whole time: He'd miss her when she was gone, though Selena couldn't understand why in her current state. Toto sat at Selena's knees, curled up with a worried look upon her face. Eventually, Selena had no choice: She had to return to the Emerald City...**

The Good Witch of the South sat neatly atop the throne of Oz which Selena had created in the Wizard's absence: She watched with pleasant surprise as Selena approached the throne, throwing the broom at the red dragoness' feet.  
"I did it." Selena spoke, her tone sullen and mournful. "She's dead. I... I murdered her."  
"You've slain her? You've vanquished the Wicked Witch of the West?"  
Selena gulped, forcing back a fresh torrent of tears: She didn't want them to call her that, all she could see was a dragoness that looked like Selena's mother, dying right in front of her, rejecting her utterly in her final moments.  
"I... I did." Selena nodded.  
The Good Witch smiled, standing from her thrown with a polite bow. "Fairly played, my queen." she spoke. "You've proven yourself, I..."  
"I've proven nothing!" Selena cried suddenly, taking everyone by surprise. "All I've proven is that you were right all along!" She cried to the good witch.  
"I, I don't understand..." The red dragon stammered.  
"You're right..." Selena croaked. "I was blind, and I was... _Wicked_. All I did when I came to Oz was terrible things to people. I've damaged and destroyed things, I've threatened and hurt people, and now I've murdered someone, all for a crown!" She shook her head. "No... You were right from the start. I'm no queen."  
Quivering, she took off her crown, her necklace and her finery, letting her velvet cloak drop to the ground around her ankles. Her legs trembling, heavy like lead, she gave the crown to the Good Witch. "Take it, be queen. I don't want it anymore." She sniffed, feeling her eyes go wet.  
"Oh..." The good witch's voice was soft, sympathetic. She approached the younger dragoness, wrapping her wings around her in a hug: Hers was a gentle heart, she couldn't bear to see such unhappiness in anyone.  
"Please..." Selena quietly moaned in the good's witch's embrace. "Let it end. I've ruined everything for everyone. I can't take it anymore! I just wanted to take these shoes off and go home!" Selena was lost, she felt broken, like she'd wilfully been destroying a part of herself, and only realised what she'd done once it was too late to fix, but still the good witch hugged her, holding her tightly in her wings and forelegs; her long neck coiled around the bipedal dragoness.  
"But my dear..." The good witch whispered, her tone warm and soft, enveloping Selena as much as her embrace. "You knew all along how to do it. How to go back home."  
"But, but I h-had to stay. I, I had to be Dorothy, and I completely bunged it up! Half of Oz is on fire, the wizard is gone, and I did nothing to help my friends get the things they wanted."  
"And do you think that wizard's trinkets would _really _help them? Of course not. People never just _become _anything. You didn't give the scarecrow a brain, but you gave him an opportunity to be smart. The Tin Dragon, did you think he'd just be zapped with warm, fuzzy feelings, or was this adventure the opportunity for him to care for those other than himself? And the lion. My dear, courage isn't the lack of fear, but being brave in the face of fear." She smiled. "And you? I'm sure you found something you weren't expecting as well?"  
"Yeah." Selena snorted sadly. "That I'm a complete and total bitch."  
"I'm sure if you were truly as wicked as you think you are, you wouldn't feel guilt for it, my child." The Good Witch explained.  
"You, you think so?" Selena asked, pulling away slightly, rubbing her eyes and looking to the others; those three who'd come to her aid when she needed them: She was indebted to them, her friends. "I..." She faltered. "I'm sorry I hadn't been a good friend to you before. Thank you for giving me another chance... But, I have to go home now."  
"And you're sure you really want to go home?" Eve asked, to which Eve nodded. "Well, I think we're going to need a spot of help, aren't we?"  
The Good Witch's voice seemed to imply that something was going to happen. Selena pulled away and looked: She saw bubbles, pink bubbles descending from the air: Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, was approaching. As before, she appeared in a large bubble (a most unusual form of teleportation).  
"Ah, my dear Selena." Glinda spoke, seeing the dragoness in a state. "Whatever's the matter?"  
"She wants to go home." The Good Witch of the South informed her. "She's had quite a distressing mission I'm afraid."  
"So I'd heard." The Good Witch of the North nodded. "I do believe our friend has learned a few lessons, hasn't she?"  
"Wait..." Selena spoke. "You, you knew? All this time, and you knew?"  
Glinda went quiet. "...I did not know she was your mother." She answered: "I'm sorry. It takes a lot to kill somebody. But to kill your own mother? That must have been awful."  
Selena didn't speak, she simply nodded as Glinda approached, and it was her turn to hug the young dragoness. "It'll be okay, dear. I'll show you how to go home."  
"She knows how to go home." The Good Witch of the South mentioned. "She said she 'had to be Dorothy' though. That's why she stayed."  
"Oh, yes, of course." Glinda nodded. "You knew the power of the slippers all along, didn't you Selena?" Selena nodded. "But nobody would've come out of this any better if you had." She paused. "I will confess, I didn't expect you to react to the Ruby Slippers the way you had. I did bind the shoes to your feet. You wouldn't have gotten as far as you did if you'd have thrown them away." She smiled. "Don't worry. When you go home, I'll make sure the shoes stay right here. They won't be stuck to you anymore."  
"Thank you." Selena smiled weakly. She heard a chirp from Toto, and she looked down, smiling at the baby who looked back up at her. She knelt down and cuddled the little baby. "Oh, and I'm going to miss you too." She spoke, her tone quivering. "I'm sorry, I wish I could take you home with me. But the Good Witch of the South will take good care of you..." Selena choked up slightly. "...As the others will as well. Right?"  
The Trio nodded.  
"I'll make sure she's properly cared for." The Tin Dragon smiled. "Don't worry..."  
"We all will." Glinda added. "You do know how to get home now, I trust?"  
"Yeah. Click my heels three times, say there's no place like home, sorted." She responded. "I, I'm sorry I caused so much trouble to begin with. I hope you can forgive me."  
"We already have." The scarecrow smiled, sitting next to the lion, whose shyness had not departed him.

**With that, there was little else to say but goodbye. It was a parting of ways which weighed heavily in Selena's heart, but she couldn't stay: It was all a dream and now, with the clicking of her heels, it was time to wake up...**

...Vision returned to Selena slowly. She looked around, seeing the roof of the main chamber of the Palace of Avalaria, and a sea of faces staring at her. Consciousness returned, and she found herself sitting up: she was a dragon again, truly, a quadruped by design... And her hind feet were bare, with the only Ruby Slippers to be seen on the hind paws of her sister, who had already awoken from her dream, and had gone to sit at Selena's side: She'd drawn quite a crowd, and was clearly the last to wake.  
"Selena!" Alexandria cried, quickly hugging her twin. "You're awake again! You were the last up, and we were all starting to get really worried! You were fitting and clawing at your hind paws once or twice, then just before you woke up, you started crying! We were all really worried, and Algiz was freaking out, thinking he'd done something wrong with your mix or something! I'm so glad you're up again!"  
Selena looked around, not responding to her sister. The memories of her dream still weighed heavy on her.  
"I... I..."  
"Selena, sis, are you alright?" Elwynn asked, a concerned look on his face, unlike any he'd given throughout the party, or indeed for a long time.  
"I..." Selena stammered. "I'm sorry, I need to be alone for a while." She broke free from her sister's embrace, and quickly vacated the scene.  
"Selena?" Alexandria called for her, exchanging glances with Elwynn. "Where are you going Selena?"  
"What was the dream?!" Elwynn tried to ask, but it was too late: Selena had bolted upstairs, to her room. The elder brother and his sister bit their lip and gulped: SOMETHING had to have happened. Selena looked as if she was about to cry, and if there was one thing the two dragons thought they knew, it was that Selena Di Avalaria _never_ cried...


	3. Epilogue

**A couple of days had passed since the events of Elwynn's costume party, and Selena had started acting rather strangely... For Selena. She seemed subdued, a guilty weight seemed to be in her shoulders and neck as she went about her business, when she did: She'd also become very private and self-isolating, nowhere was she more so than with her siblings, retreating or finding an excuse to leave the room whenever they neared. Her head drooped and her eyes were dim. Something was wrong, and Elwynn and Alexandria were worried.**

"I just don't get it." Alexandria spoke to her brother, over tea and a plate of nibbles delivered to them by a palace servant. "She won't even look at us, Elwynn. I'm really worried. What could we have done? Why is she avoiding us?"  
"She seems upset." Elwynn responded, casually chewing on some peanuts, which he'd taken from a bowl. "She's been like it ever since she woke up from that dream she had."  
"The Oz one?"  
"She told you about it?" Elwynn blinked.  
"I cornered her yesterday, and I told her about mine, and begged her to tell me about hers..." Alexandria explained, taking a moment to fill Elwynn in on Selena's adventures in her dream.

"...and that was it." She told her brother: "...But she never finished. She found an excuse to go before she got to the end of the story."  
"So she was Dorothy?" Elwynn nodded. "And that was why she was clawing her feet? She didn't want the Ruby Slippers, or to be dressed in a blue and white dress with little bows on it?"  
"Yeah, the shoes were stuck on her hind paws. Nothing she did would make them come off, and they apparently shocked anyone who tried to get them off."  
"Hmmm, kinky." Elwynn smirked, stopping once he saw Alex scowl "Alright alright! Still... She wouldn't be like that because of magic shoes being clingy though, right?"  
"No... There was something else. She said I was in the dream. I was Glinda, which is awesome."  
"Oh, really? What about me?"  
"You were the Wizard of Oz... Though she beat you up and scared you off she said..." Alexandria blushed. "That got her to smile, for a moment, but then she was sad again."  
"So, people she knew were all characters in her dream?" Elwynn spoke. "Who was the Wicked Witch?"  
"The green one? She wouldn't say. It was when I asked that she ran off..." Alexandria paused. "Maybe that's it? She said the dream she had wasn't the same as the story... Maybe the witch won? She'd been caught, she got stung by the Jitterbug, and was captured... Maybe being magically forced to dance, captured and threatened by the witch must have really shook her up?" She gasped. "What if she hurt her? Or Toto?! Oh, poor Selena, she must have been really scared!"  
"No, no, I don't believe that. Selena's tough, she wouldn't have given in like that. But I do agree... Something must have shook her up quite a bit." He sighed. "We need help with this, Alex."  
"I know, but mum and dad are in London."  
"So, we need somebody!" Elwynn snorted. "Screw politics. That's what mum would say if she knew about this!" He groaned. "What about Eve? Eve's awesome, she'll know what to do!"  
"Agreed." Alex nodded. "I'll call Eve, you call Ddraig. One of them will be able to help out."  
"Deal." Elwynn concluded. "But, one thing... What DID you dream about? I... I was Oberyn Martel from Game of Thrones... Hehe, that brothel..."  
"Oh, brother..." Alex gagged.  
"Fine, what about you?"  
"Me? Oh, I was Asian, and I was living in Indomalya with Liang. I had this lovely, white dress, like mum had to wear to London, and Liang walked with me through these lovely gardens, and we wrote poetry together in this pavilion next to a pond filled with large, colourful fish." She sighed happily, blissfully wandering off into a fantasy.  
"You done?" Elwynn deadpanned.  
"Yes, I'm good, let's go." Alex blushed, and they went their separate ways.

**Both Eve and Ddraig responded to Elwynn's and Alexandria's calls, promising to get home as soon as they could. Ddraigtanto and Alexander where in London, at a political summit with Conservative prime minister, Sir Richard Hope Francis; probably a thoroughly enjoyable and pleasant man in some alternative universe, but in this universe, Ddraig would rather be**_**literally anywhere else**__. _**Eve however was living in Warfang with Olivia as guardians, they were much closer to home, which is why they were the first to arrive.**

Selena had retreated to her bedroom, as she'd done for the past two days. She was packing a bag, for she wouldn't be staying in Avalaria much longer: It was the 23rd Century, and Selena was in charge of Avalar's off-world colonial ventures, namely a lunar base turned colony. She stood in the mirror, looking at herself in her grey uniform. She was effectively the governess of the lunar colonies, and wasn't due to return for a week. She felt awful around her family however, she couldn't bring herself to stay, not with the knowledge of how bad she'd been to them all.

There was suddenly a knock on her door.  
"Who's there?" She called out.  
"It's me." Came Eve's voice from behind the door, a gentle, calm voice which Selena couldn't help find comforting. "Can I come in please?"  
"I, I'm busy..." Selena stammered, her voice faltering.  
"Aww, but I came all this way to see you." Eve purred. "Are you sure you can't spare a minute for your big sister?"  
Selena gulped slightly, taking a moment, and opening the door. "Alright, come on in." She stepped back, inviting her older sister inside. Eve was already in her early 20s by the time Selena was born, and Selena always respected her; now, in her mid-40s, Eve had turned from a rather insecure, shy teenager and young adult, into a very capable adult. She'd been through the ups and downs herself, and had taken on much of her mother's wisdom.  
"Hmmm, are you really going so soon?" Eve asked, looking at Selena's uniform as she sat down on the bed. "I was told you didn't have to go back to New Warfang for a good while yet."  
"Oh... Erm, I was called back." Selena said. "I'm needed back at the colonies."  
Eve smirked. "Really? What for?"  
"Just, _stuff_. Colony stuff, probably to do with the ozone generators, or a problem with a lack of nutrients in the dirt, I don't know."  
However, Eve simply scoffed. "Selena, if I've learned anything from being a part of this family, the _good _Ixeniejirs and di Avalarias are terrible at _lying._"  
Selena looked away. "I'm not a good di Avalaria." She spoke after a while. "I'm easily the worst. Even Elwynn isn't a total bitch to all of his family."  
"And you're a total bitch?" Eve asked, and Selena nodded. "Hm, they've really lowered the bar for what constitutes as a total bitch from when I was young like you. For starters, _total _bitches usually didn't give a damn about other people, nor did they care if they were being bitchy or not."  
Selena went silent. "You wouldn't be saying that if you saw what I did in my dreams not long ago..." She stammered. "I wish I could tell you, but I can't. You'll all hate me."  
Eve smiled. "Nobody could ever hate you. Not really..."

**Selena, while she loved her elder sister for her kind words, was not convinced, and was no more convinced once Eve finally left, exchanging hugs and then parting, leaving Selena to continue with her packing. Eve had insisted Selena promise to say goodbye to Ddraig once she arrived in Avalar. Truthfully, this was a promise Selena did not intend to keep, she wished to be on the next shuttle to the moon before her mother and father returned from England.**

**However, Selena had forgotten one important characteristic about Ddraig: She was a mother first, and an empress second...**

Night fell on Avalaria as Selena finished her packing, and began to collect her bags to leave. The moon hung high in the darkened sky, a faint, tiny spec of lights glittered on the Lunar surface: New Warfang. Now, people could look up at the moon at night, and know that, on its surface, their fellow men were looking back. A knot formed in Selena's stomach at the thought while she walked down a quiet corridor of the Palace of Avalaria: She'd always been excited by the idea of space travel, ever since she was a little hatchling watching science fiction shows on the television. Now, in the 23rd Century, she lived it, but she'd put herself into something of a self-exile in the process. She never really cared once the initial homesickness wore off, but now however, she felt like she deserved it. She paused slightly, looking out a window, up to the moon in the sky.  
**  
**"Selena?" The dragoness jumped out of her skin at the mention of her name. She spun around, seeing Ddraig standing in the corridor nearby. She looked positively angelic in Selena's eyes, even as she entered her 60s: She wore a flowing, white dress of silk, trimmed with faint purple linings and embroiled with flowers. Her head and her wings, wrists and tail were adorned with silver: a delicate wreath of folded silver and amethysts hung from her head as a crown, and a similarly made necklace hung around her neck. Her eyes were bright and warm, as though the creeping hands of age were themselves too shy to approach her, and could naught but bow in her wake.

...At least, that was how Selena saw her. Sure, Ddraig had a few wrinkles under her eyes, and she wasn't so quick on her feet anymore, but she was her mother, none of that mattered in the face of it all.

Selena felt a lump deep in her throat as the empress, her mother, came to sit next to her by the window. It was then Selena noticed that Ddraig had a small cage with her, covered in a blanket, which she set down beside her.  
"Mother..." Selena spoke, her voice shaky. "I, I thought you were in London?"  
She chuckled. "Oh, I was. I could be talking with the Prime-Minister of England, and I could listen to him go on and on. But then I heard one of my daughters was having a rough time. You tell me, where do you think I'd rather be? What is more important to me? The Kingdom of England and its dull, boring old PM, or my daughter, a daughter planning on flying off back to The Moon before I get a chance to say goodbye?" She smiled. "I'd tell _a thousand _English prime-ministers to go away in no civilized words before I allowed my daughter to leave the planet without me being there to wave her off."  
"You, you didn't actually..."  
"Oh, gods, no!" Ddraig chuckled. "Your father's more sensible than to allow me to do that. I wanted to. Elwynn called for me, and when one of my aides, Alice I think it was, came to tell me what happened, I was in a meeting. I was perfectly happy to get up and walk out, so I did. It was your father who suggested I at least wait until we'd finished, then I bailed on the summit as soon as it was done." She paused. "I asked your father to go make us some tea and a cheese platter. I wanted to speak to you in private first... Something is making you unhappy. Please tell me what, I want to help."  
"You, you can't... It's my fault..." Selena stammered. "I, I've done horrible things to you, and my family, both in dreams and reality." She stammered.  
"Oh, yes, this Oz dream of yours?" Ddraig spoke. "I recall Elwynn saying that Alexandria was quite jealous. She loves the wizard of Oz... But, there was something else, wasn't there? Please tell me. It's a dream, it's not real. I won't be angry."  
There was something to how Ddraig spoke, this motherly warmth, which disarmed Selena, and loosened her tongue, and her tear glands in good time. "...Well, erm..." She gulped. "...Everyone in the dream was my family, or friends. Alex was Glinda, Elwynn was the wizard... Dad was the tin man..." She faltered. "But, I was really horrible to all of them. But..." She faltered again. "...You were in it too..."  
"Oh?"  
"Yeah..." Selena croaked, feeling her eyes go wet. "...You were the Wicked Witch of the West. You hated me, you wanted to kill me, but... But I killed you first..." Her sniffed, wiping her eyes. "But I didn't know!" She quickly added, in tears. "I didn't! You wore makeup to make your scales green, and, and you wore a big hat! I only did it to prove I wasn't a wicked witch myself, a-and to become queen of Oz! I, I didn't know, I didn't!"  
Ddraig took Selena's paw in her own, the affection did nothing by provoke Selena to cry even more. "Well, as I said, it's just a dream."  
"But it wasn't! Was it!?" She sobbed. "I've been being horrible to everyone long before that dream. I've been so desperate to be a queen, and so jealous of my siblings, and, and resentful..." She lost her words again, speech was hard as she gasped for air between sobs. "...I'm so sorry. I've been an unworthy princess, and a terrible daughter."

**Ddraig said nothing, she pulled her daughter into a hug, tightly wrapping her wings around her, and letting her cry; it was a side to Selena she'd not seen in a long time.**

She allowed Selena to cry and let it all out, before she whispered softly into her ear.  
"Shh, my dear, it's alright. I told you I wouldn't get angry about it." With her forepaw, Ddraig stroked the back of Selena's neck, holding her close. "I should've seen the signs that something was making you unhappy long before now. I'm sorry." Ddraig pulled back slightly, but remained in the hug. "Well, no more. You're old enough, and it isn't fair that all your siblings hold titles while you don't. I know I gave you a duchy which you rejected, but I know that was partly my fault. You were young, and I interfered too much. I might as well have never even bothered." She sighed. "If I had the land to spare I would've given you a crown already. Still, you have your Lunar colonies. We could make those into a kingdom of their own, and name you queen, if you like?"  
However, Selena shook her head. "No, not yet..." She responded. "I, I'm not ready. That much I know for certain. I want to feel like I actually deserve it first, I want to earn a crown, not just be given one."  
Ddraig smile faded slightly. "Oh. Are you sure?" Selena nodded. "If you're sure. I still feel you deserve it though. Though, that reminds me..." Suddenly, she turned to the covered cage she'd brought with her. "...I have something I'd like to give you. I've been toying with the idea of doing this for a while, seeing as everyone's flying the nest. However, I feel your need is greater than mine..."

Ddraig removed the cover from the cage; opening it, out came something which took Selena by surprise: A black wyvern, no older than a baby, crawled out, squeaking and curiously looking around with her big, grey eyes. It looked like Toto, from her dream, but it couldn't be, could it? Still, their eyes met, and suddenly, something just clicked, like meeting an old friend. The wyvern squeaked again, crawling over to Selena with its wings and legs, before sitting next to her, rubbing her head against the dragoness' foreleg. Selena couldn't help but look down, a smile spreading across her face like a wildfire.  
"Oh, wow." Selena spoke, slightly giddy. "She's amazing! Wherever did you find her?"  
Ddraig smirked. "A London pet shop, would you believe? I saw her, sitting in a cage in the window, and something just stirred. She's such a fine wyvern, a good, strong, healthy one, and the shop owner said she had quite a nice temperament. It seemed like a good opportunity, and ancestors know that if I didn't get her, someone else would. I must say, she's certainly taken a liking to you."  
Selena was grinning like a schoolgirl, she couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy about something. "She's perfect." Was her response.  
"The shopkeep has her called Toto in England." She pulled out a large sheet of paper. "See here, her Hatchery Club birth certificate. You'll want to hold onto that."  
"You're joking, right?" Selena scoffed. "After what I just told you, that's what she's called?"  
"I know, I know. The coincidence is not lost on me either." Ddraig responded.

At that moment, Alexander returned, and Ddraig filled him in on what had happened. The green dragon winced, setting down the food and drink he'd made and going over to give his daughter a hug himself: In politics, he was a stiff, formal dragon, but the reality was that it was just a mask, he loved his children, and to see them hurting weighed heavy on him.  
"Selena, my child." He spoke. "You shouldn't run off back to the moon this early. I dare say it's not even possible! The shuttle isn't due to return until then, and it's not something one can rush. Oh please, dear, stay home with us for a while. We see so little of you."  
"Probably for the best." Selena sniffed. "I know I can be moody and difficult a lot of the time."  
"Oh, we've _never _met anyone like that before." Ddraig smirked, exchanging glances with her husband. "Have we, Alexander?"  
He rolled his eyes. "Oh, no. Indeed we have not." He spoke in playful sarcasm, before returning to Selena. "Of course we jest, Selena. Nobody is perfect. You have a lot of your mother in you."  
"Yeah." Ddraig nodded. "I can be a bit moody at times, we all know that."  
Alexander draped a wing over his wife, adding. "But, there's nobody else I'd rather be with. The same goes with you. You're my daughter, you're family, and I wouldn't give you up for anything."  
"Indeed." Ddraig finalized with a smile. "We can all be a bit difficult sometimes, but that's part of being family. There's nothing you could do which could ever really stop us from loving you."

**Selena's mind was not set entirely to rest from her talk with her parents, but it helped. She agreed that she should remain at home until the shuttle arrived: This would've been a problem for her even if she'd refused, Selena rationalized; it would be better for her to wait in her family home, in her own bed, surrounded by loved ones, rather than alone in a spaceport hotel.**

**Selena, in the meantime, chose to stay at home with her family, as well as finding a suitable name for her new pet. As 'Toto' was already placed on the birth certificate for an ID name, she was tempted to go for that, but the temptation to put her own flare into the wyvern (who was clearly leaps and bounds beyond dog in her eyes).  
She began thinking of names, and immediately took inspiration from Space. Apollo, perhaps? No, it didn't suit her. She looked into the names of the bodies of the solar system. She considered a great number of them, from Venus to Cares, but no! None of them fit! It drove her to madness, but, as she continued to think on spacecraft and historical space programs, it suddenly hit her: Sputnik, in Russian it meant "Fellow Traveller of Earth", a companion in her adventures, which is exactly what this wyvern had been to her. Plus, it could be shortened into an even more fitting name, Nikki. ****_Nikki_****, yes. That would do nicely. The wyvern herself seemed to like the new name, and so it was settled: She would be called Nikki. Now Selena just had to arrange it, and find her pet a nice new collar. **

The days before Selena was due to return to her lunar colonies went by very nicely. Her family refused to allow her to hide away, and suddenly Nikki became the excuse to keep her close to her family: They would help her get supplies for the pet, and teach her how to look after a wyvern. Nikki herself wasn't a _young _hatchling, and had picked up some good habits from when she was in the care of the store owner from London. It wasn't perfect, but Nikki learned quickly.

On the day before Selena was due to head off to The Moon, however, her siblings and mother were a little busy with certain matters for most of the day. Alexandria had been curious about Selena's tendency to go about her day in a bipedal form, rather than as an ordinary dragoness. It was something which had not gone under Selena's radar herself: She simply seemed to find it easier to do her work when she didn't have to walk about on all fours; she'd also come to find a great enjoyment for clothes as well, though she refused to admit it to her family, and instead remained in her work uniform (she was very proud of her job, so this was not an issue for her).

**Nevertheless, the day eventually came for Selena to leave, and so Ddraig, Alexander and the rest of Selena's family accompanied her to the launch pad to see her off. Ddraig was very keen to help her with her luggage, despite her packing quite lightly, and took it herself to the loading bays before coming to say goodbye.**

"Oh, my dear child." Ddraig spoke to Selena, hugging her tightly with her wings. "I'm going to miss you so much. Please call me, or strike up a video chat with us at some point. I hate how we see so little of you when you're in New Warfang. You will keep in touch, and let us know when you get home safe, right?" She asked.  
"I will, mother, don't worry." Selena replied, smiling weakly as Ddraig continued to hold her. "I've never had problems in managing a ship though. It's one of the few things I'm good at, there'll be no problems there I assure you."  
"It's natural for parents to worry about their loved ones." her father said. "And Ddraig?" He chuckles. "She worries more than most."  
"Only because I care." The mother dragon retorted. "Perhaps I'm being irrational, Selena is a magnificent captain of starships. But she's my daughter, I'll worry about her for just about everything. I'm her mother, I'm _allowed._ If Selena ever has kids, she'll feel the same way, I assure you."  
Selena couldn't help but blush at her mother mentioning the topic of her becoming a parent someday: It never crossed her mind, mainly because she wasn't interested in having kids (she was _far _too busy with work as far as she was concerned). "Mum, please, I'll be fine. Really."  
"We'll have to come up and visit you sometime." Elwynn spoke, entering the conversation with his characteristic grin. "Won't we Alex?"  
"Yes of course." Alexandria added. "I'll bring Liang, he'd love to see New Warfang." She ran up and hugged her sister. "Ooooh, I'll miss you so much! I'm already welling up about you going!"  
Selena smiled, Alexandria was her twin: They might have had their disagreements, but they'd always been close, and she'd definitely miss her too. She'd miss them all in truth, even though she didn't always see eye to eye with her family, she'd realized just how much she valued having them on her mind. As Nikki chirping, sitting atop Selena's shoulder, she turned to see that it was time to board. She sighed, exchanging one last goodbye with her family, and went to join her crew.

**The world's spacefaring efforts on this level was only in its infancy, the only a few countries had any real presence in space, and Avalar as one of them. Avalar's interests in the other worlds and moons of the solar system lay in terraforming and colonization; one too many famines, coupled with increasing overcrowding, had made the Avalarian Empire look skyward. This led in time to the foundations of what was now New Warfang.**

**Avalar didn't have a lot of ships in space. Only two had any real military intent, the ****_HMS Avalaria_**** (a ship Selena captained herself) and the ****_HMS Varinia_****. Everything else was either colony ships, shuttling people between Earth and The Moon, and mail carriers. One such mail carrier was traveling with the****_ HMS Avalaria _****and flew past at a far greater speed than the bigger, heavier ****_Avalaria _****could muster.** **By modern standards, a flight from Earth to The Moon would not take a very long time; even in the 1960s, it only took a few days for a manned flight to arrive. For them, it was practically a plane flight. It'd take just as long to fly from Warfang to New York. However, that still left roughly 12 hours of travel...**

It was the equivalent of morning on The Moon when Selena and her crew finally arrived. She'd slept well on the ship the night prior, and was in slightly better spirits. Andreas, one of her friends and colleagues on the _HMS Avalaria_, had kept her company; even when she was at her grumpiest, Andreas always seemed to be able to make her feel a little better. She liked him, and she trusted him, that's why she'd given him a spare key to her New Warfang home in the event that she lost her own. They were on leave for now; Andreas was a passionate engineer and all-round tinkerer: He wanted to go look for some machine parts for a project he was working on, but promised to come see how Selena was settling down in New Warfang later on. This was fine to Selena, she had to see to some tasks as governor of the colony as well, and wanted some time to herself anyway...

Selena might have been a princess, but her New Warfang home, while modern, was no grand estate. She lived in an apartment in the colonial HQ building; a modern, clean, very orderly flat inside a very opulent, art-deco skyscraper of glass, stone and vast, ornate statues. She had quite a fine view of the colony from her home, and some wonderful skylights to see the perpetual blanket of starry darkness, and the vast Earth which hung in the night sky.

"Alright, little guy." Selena spoke to Nikki, who had perched on her arm, chirping happily. "Home, sweet home." She pushed open the door to her apartment, letting the wyvern fly off and explore her surroundings. The flat was a world away from Ddraigtanto's palace in Avalaria: It was sparsely furnished, and everything was new, sleek and modern, and yet coldly so. Selena had a fine house, but she'd made no efforts to make it into a home. She sighed, perhaps Nikki might help with that once she'd set down a bed and some food bowls for her. She scooped up a remote control with her hand as she entered the room, turning on a stereo to play music; Selena had inherited her mother's love of music, but unlike Alexandria, Selena found her preferences lay in various genres of rock music, 20th Century to be specific, the older the better.

Nikki, meanwhile, continued to explore the living room, making curious squeaks every now and then while a bipedal Selena flopped onto her sofa, kicking off her work shoes, tossing aside the coat of her uniform and loosening her tie, listening to the music and trying to relax after what had been, despite the best efforts of her family, quite a stressful week.  
She would've stayed there for hours, perhaps have a nap to some of her more mellow stuff. However, her enjoyment was quickly interrupted, the sound of Nikki clambering on the floor against Selena's bedroom door and chirping distracted her, and dragged her out of her relaxation. She sat up, sighing, and going over to Nikki.  
"Oh, you want to see the bedroom, do you?" She asked, causing Nikki to utter another loud peep in response. "Oh, alright." She opened the door, and Nikki quickly flew inside. Selena followed after her, watching as Nikki landed on the bed, squeaked happily and cured up atop it, taking a quick nap.

It was at that moment that Selena spotted something odd: Upon her bed, next to her luggage which the doorman had brought up for her, was a parcel addressed to her. This took her aback, she'd heard plenty of horror stories of mysterious packages appearing in people's homes, containing cursed items people only learned the malevolent nature of once it was too late. However, this did not stop her from at least looking at the contents before throwing it out if it seemed untoward.  
She opened the box to discover its contents, a letter, a smaller box, and clothes, _familiar looking_ clothes. Selena frowned, picking up the letter, and reading it aloud.

_Dear Selena,_

_We really enjoyed spending time with you again back here on Earth. We're really sorry you've been so unhappy for so long, and that you've had a rough time of it as a result of your dream at Elwynn's party. Your siblings decided, the day before you were due to leave, to come to me and suggest getting you a farewell present. They took a trip to the Cavalier and Canter and commissioned The Tailor to make the outfit you'd told them about in your dream. They tell me that TT was extremely excited about the possibility of making a pair of the Ruby Slippers, and the final product looks wonderful I must say._

Selena paused reading once she got to that line. Rummaging through the box, she found them: Glittering under her bedroom light, a pair of beautiful red slipper shoes, the Ruby Slippers to anyone who laid eyes upon them. Selena felt her heart skip a beat slightly, remember the trouble they brought her, but at the same time, they were soft and comfortable to the touch.

_TT has put all of the enchantments and magic upon them that you'd mentioned from your dream, but don't worry, one such piece of magic, the part which kept them stuck to your feet, has been omitted. She'd have no part in that kind of magic. We wanted to surprise you for when you got home, because you're my daughter, and me and your siblings love you dearly, no matter what._

_With love,_

_Mum._

_PS: I know you've said that you do not feel that you deserve a kingdom of your own. However, for when you do become a queen, you'll need a crown. It's not a matter of if but when, I know it! And so, I've had TT make a gift for you myself. Check the jewellery box! Xxx._

With the note, Selena's sense of worry for what the box contained quickly faded. She emptied out the box and checked over its contents. Everything from the dream was here: The Ruby Slippers, the green blouse, the white trousers, a green velvet cloak, underwear, socks, and that box. She took the box in her hands, opening it to reveal her mother's gift: A silver necklace, lined with emeralds, silver bracelets, and a silver crown, with emeralds set into its face; all masterfully crafted by TT in her jewellery forge, the work of a master goldsmith and tailor. She felt tears well in her eyes again, happy tears this time. She took a moment to revel in the happiness of the moment, after that, she decided she wanted to try on her new clothes.

She stripped nude, dragons had no need of underwear, save for added warmth, but underwear made by The Tailor was far superior quality to that which she normally wore, and they felt as such when she tried them on. Both the underwear and the socks were wonderfully, almost magically comfortable. The same could be said for her trousers and blouse, and then the shoes. She set them on the floor, slightly nervously, she slid her feet into the shoes... She stood there, wriggling her toes inside, if anything they were more comfortable than the shoes from her dream, they were a perfect fit, and some of the most wonderful shoes she'd ever worn! They clung to her feet, but slid off as easily as they went on when she tried; they were definitely not stuck on.

**A sense of vanity overtook her for a moment. Striding over to a tall mirror, she couldn't help but pose her in outfit, sporting the necklace and bracelets in her attire.  
It was strange for her: She'd never cared much for her appearance, save for keeping her starship captain uniform in good order, but these felt different; perhaps it was because they were a gift from loved ones she'd come to have a new appreciation for, perhaps it was because she'd had this outfit in a dream. Either way, she loved it, and would wear it every day from now one if she could.**

At that moment, her doorbell rang. She sighed happily, before walking over and answering it, finding Andreas standing waiting.  
"Captain Selena, I..." He paused. "...Wow." He gasped. "I know you'd taken to going about as a biped, but... You look amazing!"  
She smiled. "Thanks Andreas, and you don't need to call me 'Captain' either. What did you come to see me for?"  
"I told you, I'd come to see how you were settling in... I'm sorry, I'm a bit..." He blushed. "...A bit distracted. Those shoes look really good on you."  
"You think?"  
"Yeah. I didn't think you'd wear something like that. I'm really glad you gave it a go."  
"Well, I suppose you could say I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pull off shoes like these." She shrugged. "I've always been a bit of a tomboy, I suppose."  
They exchanged a brief chuckle at the thought, leaving Andreas smiling. "Say..." He spoke at last. "Forgive me if this is a bit awkward, but... I was rather hoping to ask if I could buy you a coffee sometime? I mean, we're both off duty, and... Well..."  
Selena grinned, enjoying Andreas with his blushing cheeks and sudden meekness. "I'd like that." She answered.  
"Great, great!" The yellow electricity dragon chirped. "Do you mean now, or perhaps some other time?"  
"Hmmm, I can probably do now, I have to make a call first though, do come in. Do you mind waiting a little bit?"  
"For you? I don't mind waiting at all."

**And so, Andreas came inside and was invited to Selena's sofa. As for Selena, she loved the company of Andreas, her best friend. But first, she had to make a video call to her family back on Earth, she owed them a thank you, for everything...**

**The End.**


End file.
